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STORY HOUR 

WITH AUNT ANNA 


ORIGINAL STORIES BY 


ANNA LEHMAN 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

WALTER LANGE 



YORK, PA. 

THE YORK PRINTING CO. 


1924 


' 5-c 


Copyright, 1924, by 
ANNA LEHMAN 



Printed in the United States of America 

SEP 30 ’24 

©C1AS08114 

- I 


CONTENTS 

I. The Princess with One Shoe 
II. The Story of the Vain King 

III. The Water-Nymph . 

IV. The Story of Little Star 

V. The Fairy's Crown . 

VI. The Story of a Cricket . 

VII. SCALLAWAG. 

VIII. The Magic Forest . 

IX. The Mosquito-Party 

X. Princess Rose. 

XI. The Cloud-palace of the Dream- 
angel . 

XII. The Sea-queen's Revenge 

XIII. Aunt Anna's Favorite Story 


5 

18 

28 

37 

47 

60 

70 

79 

94 

110 

125 

133 

144 


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Scene from “The Princess With One Shoe’ 



I 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 

O NCE upon a time there ruled a mighty 
king over a big country far, far away. 
This king had a lovely daughter whose 
mother had died at her birth. 

A Fairy that lived near the king’s castle felt 
sorry for the little baby, that had to grow up 
without the loving care of a mother, and in order 
to protect the child from evil, she gave her a very 
precious gift. 

It was a pair of slippers, formed like a flower, 
which had three magic qualities: they never 
wore out or withered, they grew with her feet 
and had the power to protect the wearer against 
all harm. 

No wonder the princess never touched the 
ground with her feet without the shoes on, and 
even kept them on her feet over night for fear 
they would be stolen. 

Now there lived in the wood near the castle a 
dwarf, who was very much in love with a little 
wood-fairy. One day he went to her house and 
asked her to become his wife. But the fairy 
said: 


5 


6 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“How am I to know that I will be happy with 
you, and without the assurance of happiness I 
will not marry.” 

The dwarf was very much distressed and said: 

“I will do all that is in my power to make you 
happy. What other assurance but my great love 
and my fortune could I give you? If there is 
another way to secure your happiness, let me 
know, that I may try to win you.” 

The fairy said: 

“There is only one way, and it is a hard one. 
Unless you can bring me one of the magic slip¬ 
pers that belong to the princess, which will bring 
happiness and protection to everyone in whose 
possession it is, I will not marry you.” 

From that day the dwarf had no other thought 
than to get possession of one of the princess’ 
slippers. 

The prospect of realizing this wish would have 
discouraged every other being, but not the 
dwarf. Everybody knew that the princess 
never had been without her slippers for a single 
minute in her life, but the dwarf would not give 
up hope. 

Unseen to mankind, he stayed around the 
castle for weeks, to find out all about the prin¬ 
cess’ character and habits, and at last he found 
out a promising fact. He had heard that the 
princess wanted to be more clever than every- 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 


7 


body else, and on this knowledge he worked out 
a plan. 

One morning when the king’s daughter was 
walking alone in her garden, she saw the little 
dwarf kicking his foot, so that his little shoe flew 
high up in the air. 

The princess laughed at the funny sight, but 
the dwarf said: 

“It is easy for you to laugh, but you cannot 
do the same thing.” 

“Oh,” said the princess, “only much higher.” 
And she kicked her foot so that her little slipper 
really flew much higher, but the dwarf caught it 
and disappeared. 

There stood the princess, on one foot like a 
stork, for she did not dare to set the other foot 
on the ground. 

She called for help, but as she was in a lonely 
part of the garden and a great distance away 
from the castle, nobody heard her. 

At last she decided to jump back to the castle 
on one foot. 

Crying with rage and distress, she told her 
father about the treacherous dwarf, and the king 
sent all his servants to the garden to hunt for 
the mischievous creature. 

When the servants came back empty handed, 
the whole city was searched and at last the whole 
country. 


8 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

Weeks went by without anybody having seen 
a trace of the dwarf, and the princess was in 
despair. 

At last, in his great compassion for his only 
child, the king had the announcement made, that 
the one who would bring the slipper should 
marry the princess and become king. 

The beauty of the princess and the richness of 
the country lured many young men away from 
their work, but not one of them had been able to 
go a step farther than this for the discovery of 
the slipper. 

Among others who wanted to try their luck, 
there came also two brothers whose names were 
Trueheart and Slyhead, and each had the same 
character as his name. 

The princess liked Trueheart right away, for 
honesty and kindness shone from his eyes, and it 
was her dearest wish that he should restore the 
slipper. Of Slyhead she was afraid, and she 
distrusted him from the beginning. 

Both brothers now started out to find the slip¬ 
per. Trueheart prepared for every sacrifice, 
Slyhead’s mind was set on treachery. 

There is a flower, whose name is “Ladyslip- 
per,” and it is just exactly like the slipper the 
princess wore, only very small and of a different 
color. 

Slyhead rented a large field, put a high fence 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 9 

around it and planted nothing but ladyslip- 
pers. By fertilizing he succeeded in getting 
the flowers bigger and bigger, and by water¬ 
ing them with colored water, he by and by got 
the same shade as the slipper of the princess, 
of which he himself had drawn a picture on 
paper. 

But those flowers, while they looked exactly 
like the lost slipper, lacked the three magic quali¬ 
ties. They did not grow with the princess’ feet, 
they wore out and withered, and they could not 
protect the princess against harm. 

But Slyhead’s name suited him to perfection. 
He knew how to cheat. 

One day he went to the king, put one of the 
fake-slippers at his feet and began to tell his 
long-prepared story as follows: 

“Oh, great and glorious King, may Heaven 
forbid that thou shalt ever go through the dan¬ 
gers that thy humble servant had to endure in 
order to recapture this precious slipper.” And 
then followed a long story about the dragons 
and giants he had had to conquer. 

“Those dragons and giants have sworn re¬ 
venge, and therefore the slipper might bring the 
princess into danger if she keeps them over 
night. I will come every evening and take the 
slipper with me, to watch over it.” 

But this he only said that he might change the 


10 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

slipper for a new one, so that the princess would 
not notice the fake. 

The king was happy and called for his daugh¬ 
ter. But the princess did not share her father’s 
joy over the slipper, when she saw Slyhead and 
heard his story. She had secretly hoped that 
Trueheart would bring the slipper, for she loved 
him, and in spite of all the wonderful tales, she 
could not trust Slyhead. 

As she had no facts to bring up against him, 
she kept silent and did not openly object to her 
father’s plans concerning the marriage which 
had to follow. But she made up her mind, that 
she would never touch the ground with this slip¬ 
per on her foot, and in order to have a reason for 
her behavior, and also to postpone the wedding, 
she said: 

“I have forgotten how to walk, and since I 
would not like to jump on one leg to the church, 
I must ask Slyhead to wait until I have learned 
to walk.” 

But the princess never would try to walk, 
and so was able to put off the wedding for a 
long time. 

Meanwhile Trueheart had gone into the forest 
and, after searching a long time, found the 
dwarf. He asked if he could do some work for 
him, and the dwarf, who was owner of the forest, 
engaged him as a woodcutter. 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 11 

Because of his kindness and good nature he 
was loved by everybody, and after he had done 
his work faithfully the dwarf asked him what he 
wanted as his reward. 

Trueheart said: 

“Please give me the magic slipper that belongs 
to the princess.” 

But the dwarf answered: 

“I gave the slipper as a wedding gift to my 
wife, you must ask her.” 

When Trueheart asked the fairy for the slip¬ 
per, she said: 

“I can give you the slipper only after you 
bring me the golden veil that belongs to the 
fairy-queen.” 

The fairy-queen lived with her fairy-court in 
a castle in the forest, a great way off. Trueheart 
went there immediately and asked for work. 

The fairy-queen needed a stableman, and 
Trueheart stayed and worked very faithfully 
and everybody liked him. 

After some time the fairy-queen called for 
Trueheart, praised the work he had done for her, 
and asked him what he wanted as a reward. 

Trueheart had waited for this moment for a 
long time, and his heart was beating with joy 
when he answered: 

“Dear fairy-queen, all the happiness of my 
life depends on the golden veil, and if you could 


12 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

give it to me, I would be the happiest man on 
earth.” 

The fairy-queen became sad, for she hated to 
disappoint the faithful and kind-hearted young 
man. Her answer was: 

“I have promised to give the golden veil as a 
reward for taming my two wild horses, ‘Thunder 
and Lightning,’ and unless you can do it, you 
can not have the veil.” 

This was a very sad prospect for Trueheart, 
for he knew how dangerous the task was. Those 
two horses were so wild that nobody dared to go 
near them, as they would trample everybody that 
came near, to the ground. Therefore they were 
kept in a stable quite isolated, fastened with iron 
chains, and the food had to be handed to them on 
long sticks. 

But Trueheart loved the princess and decided 
to risk his life in trying the task. 

The stable was quite a distance from the castle, 
it was a hot day and Trueheart got tired before 
he reached the place. He lay down under a tree 
and fell asleep. And in his dreams he could 
understand the voices of the trees and the birds, 
and to his surprise they were talking of him. 

“What a pity,” he heard a bird say, “that 
Trueheart is going to have such a sad fate. He 
certainly will be killed trying to tame the horses. 
He is such a kind and good fellow.” 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 13 

“Why should he?” answered a pine tree, 
“the wind told me the other day that the two 
horses have a human heart and mind, and they 
will do harm to nobody who gives them human 
food.” 

When Trueheart awoke he remembered the 
dream very well, and decided to follow the ad¬ 
vice which had been given him. 

When he reached the stable he told the care¬ 
taker that he had come to tame Thunder and 
Lightning, but that he was very hungry and 
first wanted to enjoy a good meal. 

The caretaker was very willing to let him 
have it, for he' said to himself: 

“Poor fellow; it will be the last time that he 
can enjoy a good meal, anyhow.’’ For, like 
everybody that knew the horses, he thought that 
Trueheart would be killed. 

A rich supper was prepared by the care¬ 
taker’s wife and, to the great surprise of the 
good people, Trueheart said he would like to eat 
it in the stable. 

The very smell of the food seemed to calm the 
horses, and when, after he had carefully locked 
the door, Trueheart handed all the tasty dishes 
on a stick to Thunder and Lightning, they 
seemed to enjoy it and became so calm that 
Trueheart could go near and pet them and talk 
to them. 


n STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

In fact he told them the story of his love for 
the princess, and it seemed to him that he could 
read understanding in the horses’ eyes and in the 
way they received his caresses. 

He prepared a place for himself to stay over 
night in the stable and while he enjoyed a peace¬ 
ful, happy sleep and wonderful dreams, the care¬ 
taker worried himself nearly to death about the 
fate of the good-looking fellow, who had shut 
himself in with the two dangerous animals in¬ 
stead of accepting a good bed, offered to him by 
the kind-hearted wife of the caretaker. 

Afraid of finding Trueheart torn to pieces, 
the caretaker could not make up his mind to 
enter the stable next morning. All the greater 
was his surprise when Trueheart came along 
as happy and strong as ever and asked for a 
hearty breakfast, which again he carried into 
the stable. 

The horses enjoyed the food, while Trueheart 
was satisfied with a piece of bread. After this 
he brought the horses out of the stable and har¬ 
nessed them to a carriage, to the perplexity of 
the caretaker and his wife. 

The horses were as meek as lambs, but after 
Trueheart had said good-bye to the kind people, 
they carried him away in the carriage as quick 
as a flash. 

When he arrived in the fairy-queen’s castle, 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 


15 


Trueheart was welcomed with great joy and the 
fairy-queen gave him her golden veil as a 
reward. 

In his haste to get the slipper he forgot to tell 
about the kind of food the horses were to have. 
He hurried away with a happy heart, but he 
knew that it would take him a few days to reach 
the king's castle. 

He had not walked very far when he met 
two wanderers and overheard the following 
conversation: 

“Tomorrow the wedding of the princess with 
Slyhead will be celebrated. Slyhead is tired of 
the obstinacy of the princess, and he said that 
if she did not want to walk, she may as well 
jump to the church.” 

Those words took all the joy out of Trueheart, 
for he knew that he never would be able to reach 
the king’s castle before the wedding was over. 
In despair he sat down on the grass. There was 
no use hurrying. 

All of a sudden he heard stamping and neigh¬ 
ing of horses, and Thunder and Lightning came 
racing along. Not knowing the secret about the 
taming, the horses had been fed with barley and 
hay and had become wild again. 

Fortunately Trueheart had a piece of bread in 
his pocket. He gave it to Thunder and Light¬ 
ning and after they were quiet again he jumped 


16 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

into the carriage they had been dragging along 
and, like a storm wind, he went away. 

On his way home he stopped at the dwarf’s 
house and received the slipper in exchange for 
the veil and, after driving the whole night, he 
arrived in town just in time to see the wedding 
procession on its way to church. 

What an excitement was there when the pro¬ 
cession was stopped by Trueheart, who waved 
his slipper from far away. Slyhead, who had 
keen walking gravely at the side of the prin¬ 
cess, who was still hopping on one leg, suddenly 
disappeared. 

With great joy Trueheart was welcomed by 
the princess and, after he had told his story to the 
listening crowd, the procession went on to 
church, with Trueheart in the place of Slyhead, 
who was seen no more. 

When, after the wedding, they were all sitting 
at the table, Trueheart remembered his helpers, 
the horses, and ordered that from every dish and 
bottle that stood on the table, the horses should 
have their share. 

So the horses enjoyed the wedding-banquet, 
and when they had swallowed the first gulp of 
wine, they were suddenly changed into two 
young knights. 

They told that once they had been very wild 
young men, and therefore they had been changed 


THE PRINCESS WITH ONE SHOE 17 

into horses by an old witch, who had said that 
they could only be released if somebody gave 
them wine to drink. 

They now promised to be good, and offered 
their service to the young king Trueheart, who, 
together with his wife, lived happy ever after. 


II 


THE STORY OF THE VAIN KING 

O NCE, many, many years ago, there lived 
a very handsome king. He had a great 
country and many subjects, but he did not 
care for them at all. He thought of nothing but 
his beauty, which seemed the only interest in 
his life. 

The statesmen ruled after their own fashion, 
for the king was too much occupied with his own 
person. He had dozens of servants who had no 
other duty than to invent beautiful robes and 
jewels for the decoration of his body. He 
changed his robes very often and spent hours in 
having his golden hair curled, for his hair was 
his special pride. 

Three times a day a golden carriage stopped 
before the entrance of his castle, and, surrounded 
by his servants, the king mounted the carriage 
in a most beautiful garment. He was driven 
slowly through the streets of his town, and it 
was expected of the inhabitants to stand in the 
streets and admire him. 

The people had become so accustomed to their 


18 


THE STORY OF THE VAIN KING 19 

vain king that they loved him for the sake of 
his beauty. 

Then there came a time for the king to be 
married, and his statesmen were obliged to look 
for a princess for him, as he himself had no time. 

It was not so easy to find the right one. She 
was not to be too beautiful, for the king did not 
like to be put in the background, and she was not 
to be too plain, for the king’s eyes could not get 
used to ugliness. 

What other qualities the future queen might 
have did not matter so much, for the king would 
not have time to think of her. 

At last they found a princess who seemed to 
please him. She was neither beautiful nor plain, 
but on her face there was an expression of 
charming kindliness, so that everybody liked to 
look at her. Her quiet, modest ways suited the 
king, as he thought it would be a good back¬ 
ground for his magnificence and splendor. 

So the wedding was celebrated and the king 
now drove with the queen through the streets of 
the town. 

Everybody was shouting with joy and, of 
course, the vain king imagined that all expres¬ 
sions of admiration were only for himself and 
his beauty. 

However, there were many in the crowd who 
were charmed by the sweet, kind expression in 


20 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

the queen’s face, and only a few weeks had 
passed before everyone in the town knew that 
the queen had a kind and tender heart, full of 
love for her subjects. 

While the king was thinking only of his 
beauty, the queen was occupied with the welfare 
of the people. 

The poor and distressed came in troops to the 
castle, and the queen had help and consolation 
for everyone. 

There was no sufferer in body or soul who did 
not find the way to the back door of the castle, 
where the queen, from morning till night, was 
busy with help and consolation. So occupied 
was the king with his own person that he did not 
even know of her kind deeds. 

The people no more talked about the new 
robes of the king and how lovely his hair was, 
and how many jewels adorned his crown. All 
their talk was about the kindness of the queen, 
and there was no end of this subject; there were 
new, beautiful stories to be told every day. 

The vain king did not notice at first that all 
cheers and admiration were now directed to his 
wife, but when he found it out he became very 
angry. 

He thought that the people must find the 
queen more beautiful than himself after all. He 
did not understand how anything but beauty 


THE STORY OF THE VAIN KING 


21 


could win love, and in order to convince the peo¬ 
ple he took away her queenly robe and made her 
dress in rags, and he forced her to sit by his side 
in his golden carriage. 

But the people who were, as usual, in the 



streets to cheer their queen, were only sad when 
they saw her suffer, and instead of admiration 
for his beauty, he heard only pity for the queen. 
The king was beside himself with rage. 

As soon as he reached his castle he called all 


















22 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

his statesmen to a conference and ordered them 
to find a way to take the people’s love away from 
the queen. One said he thought the queen had 
lovely hair, and instantly her hair was cut off. 

Next day the queen had to show herself to the 
people with a shaven head and in rags, while 
the king was dressed in velvet and silk and his 
golden locks glittered in the sun. 

But, all the same, the people’s cheers for their 
good queen, who had to suffer for her kindness, 
were louder than ever. 

The king grew more angry than ever, and had 
no more rest and sleep. His mind was always 
occupied with evil thoughts toward his poor 
wife, and he would certainly have done greater 
harm to her if she had not disappeared one 
morning. 

The queen knew of her danger and that the 
king, in his hatred, would not even refrain from 
taking her life. And while she had borne all the 
humiliations with great courage, she wanted to 
save the king from becoming her murderer. So 
one morning she left the castle and was seen 
no more. 

Next morning when the people found out that 
their beloved queen had fled, they came in crowds 
to the castle and inquired loudly for her. 

But this did not worry the king, who was only 
too glad that she had disappeared. 


THE STORY OF THE VAIN KING 23 

He thought: I will hide myself and when the 
people have forgotten her I will show myself 
again, and then they will love and admire me as 
they did before. 

Four weeks the king lived a retired life. He 
had long conferences with his tailors and valets 
about new robes and new ways of hairdressing, 
preparing to show himself in more splendor 
than ever. 

At last he thought the queen was forgotten, 
and one day, after the whole city had been deco¬ 
rated with flowers and flags, the king had the 
announcement made that he would take his usual 
drive. 

Adorned with most beautiful clothes and 
jewels, he entered his golden carriage, which 
drove slowly through the streets. 

But his great hope that he would recapture 
the love of his people by his beauty, was vain. 
No cheering was heard, no admiration expressed, 
and soon the triumphant expression on his face 
was gone. 

The people did not care any more for the 
king’s beauty; they were only longing for their 
kind and good queen. 

Indignant and desperate the king came home 
and looked into the mirror to see if his beauty 
had vanished. But no, he was more handsome 
than ever, and nobody had noticed it. 


24 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

Nothing in the world could have wounded his 
vanity more, nothing seemed harder for him to 
understand. Once again he drove out, but only 
to experience the same disappointment, and then, 
due to his grief, he became very ill. 

All the greatest physicians were called, but 
not one could help the king, who had lost all in¬ 
terest in life. 

Grief now truly destroyed his beauty, and 
worry disfigured his face. All day long he was 
lying on his couch. Nobody was able to cheer 
him up. 

While the whole country was mourning for 
the lost queen, and in thousands of hearts a light 
of love and longing was burning for her, there 
was not one who missed the king. The states¬ 
men ruled, as they were used to, and the days 
went by. 

A whole year passed after all the great physi¬ 
cians had left the castle, and the king had given 
up all hope of getting well. 

At last one of the king’s people heard about 
an old woman, living in the woods, who was said 
to be able to cure every sickness. 

The king also heard about this old woman, 
and expressed a desire to make another trial to 
get cured. Messengers were sent out, and the 
next day the woman came into the king’s 
sick-room. 


THE STORY OF THE VAIN KING 25 

Dressed in dark clothes, bent, the face covered 
with a gray veil, she was not a cheerful sight, 
and the king turned angrily towards the wall 
when the woman began to speak. 

She spoke with a soft, sweet voice, and the 
king did not interrupt her, and was not opposed 
to her sitting down next to him. 

She said: 

“I know your sickness, king, and I will be able 
to cure it and help you to get back the love and 
admiration of your subjects. Not by beauty, 
but by kindness.” 

The woman talked for hours, and the king 
listened intently. 

She told him about the sorrows and troubles 
of the people and the great happiness to be able 
to bring relief. And slowly there came a great 
change in the king’s heart. 

His own grief vanished when he heard about 
the suffering of other people, and with a deep 
compassion came a love in his heart, a love 
towards all mankind. 

All of a sudden he felt well, his heart filled 
with only one thought, to try and bring relief 
and happiness to his people. 

And as he uttered this thought, the old 
woman prepared to leave, for her work was done. 

But the king called her back and said: 

“You have healed me, you shall never leave 


26 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

me, you must help me to make my people 
happy.” 

And when he said those words, the old woman 
straightened up, her veil fell off, the coat fell 
down, and before the surprised king stood the 
queen. 

She told him how, in disguise, she had fled into 
a big forest. She had lived there all alone in a 
little hut, and, as she had had no other means to 
give help to her beloved people, she had found 
out the healing power of wild plants. Unrecog¬ 
nized, she had visited the sick people, and the 
help she had been able to give had spread even 
to the king’s castle, and so she had been called to 
heal the king. 

The king was only too happy to have his wife 
back again as a helpmate in the good work he 
was intending to do. And now, as selfishness 
had left, there was enough room in his heart for 
a profound love for his wife, who had not only 
saved his life, but had also filled his heart with a 
happiness he never had known before. 

In the castle and in the town the news of the 
return of the queen and the healing of the king 
soon spread about. 

There was great joy and jubilation in the 
whole country next day when the king and the 
queen drove out together, and it was meant not 
only for the queen, but also for the king, who, 


THE STORY OF THE VAIN KING 27 

together with his wife, tried to make his people 
happy. 

The vain king was forgotten, but the good 
king and his wife were loved and admired, and 
they lived happily ever after. 


Ill 


THE WATER-NYMPH 

T HERE was once a big, calm lake in the 
middle of the Forest. Beautiful trees sur¬ 
rounded it and a narrow path led to this 
lovely spot, but only very seldom did the foot¬ 
step of men disturb the peace of nature. 

At the bottom of this lake stood a beautiful 
castle made of crystal, and there lived the 
Nymph-king with his daughters, the lovely 
water-nymphs. Those Nymphs were half hu¬ 
man and half fish, and they had a very pleasant 
time. 

All day long they were playing in the 
water, swimming from the glittering sunshine 
into the cool shadow, and having all kinds 
of fun. 

Only at sunset, when their father the king 
held court, they had to assemble in the castle 
with him. 

As a special favor, the king had given his 
daughters permission occasionally to go on land. 
They then took human forms and dresses and 
could play to their hearts’ content until the sun 
set, but they were told that they never could 


28 


THE WATER-NYMPH 


29 


become a water-nymph again if they stayed 
longer. 

But the water-nymphs thought little of this 
permission. They thought themselves so much 
happier than human beings, as they had no hu¬ 
man hearts and therefore knew nothing about 
grief and sorrow. Joy and happiness was all 
that they could feel, and play and pleasure was 
all that they had in mind. 

They loved each other and they loved their 
father, and obeyed him, as all good children do. 

One day there came a handsome boy to the 
lake to fish. As soon as he had thrown out his 
line, a little nymph came swimming along; her 
name was June. Just out of mischief, she 
caught the line and held it tight. The boy 
thought he had a fish, and pulled very hard on 
the line, and all of a sudden the nymph let it slip 
from her hand and the boy fell backward into 
the grass. 

The noise of a merry laugh brought the boy 
quickly to his feet again, and now he saw the 
sweet little nymph. 

“You little rascal/’ he said, “why don’t you 
come out and play with me in a respectable 
way?” 

“Why should I not?” said the little nymph, 
and, for the first time in her life, she jumped on 
land and stood there as a very pretty little girl. 


30 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“Catch me,” she cried, and the boy ran after 
her. He was very quick, but the Nymph-girl 
was quicker, and when he nearly had reached 
her, she jumped into the lake, for the sun was 
just setting. 

“But why don’t you stay with me?” cried 
the boy. 

“I cannot,” answered the nymph. “If I am 
not in the water at sunset, I can be a nymph no 
more, and I would not like to be a girl all the 
time.” 

“But won’t you come back tomorrow?” asked 
the boy, and a far-away “yes” came out of the 
deep where the nymph had disappeared. 

Little June came to the castle just in time for 
the assembly, which was held every evening in a 
big crystal hall. 

The king was then sitting on his throne and 
the children could ask him any favor they 
wanted, and if it was not against the rule of the 
kingdom it was granted, for the Nymph-king 
liked to see all his children happy. 

A wonderful time with music and singing and 
dancing followed and then the nymphs kissed 
their father “Good-night” and went to sleep in 
their beds of soft green moss, covered with sheets 
made of leaves of water-lilies. 

Little June that evening could not sleep for a 
long time; she could not get the adventure with 


THE WATER-NYMPH 


31 


the boy out of her head. It was a very unusual 
thing that a nymph should think of going out of 
the water and playing with a human being. 
Generally they were very shy and disappeared 
as soon as they heard a footstep. 

Quite astonished at her own behavior, June 
asked herself why she had done it, and why it had 
been such a pleasure to play with the boy. She 
could not give herself an answer and decided to 
find it out the next day. 

Next day the boy came again to the shore of 
the lake and he had not long to wait for his play¬ 
mate. She came out of the water and the two 
children had a lovely time. 

They played hide and seek and had a race, and 
when June was tired the boy brought her flowers 
and insects the girl had never seen before. 

But before the sun slipped under the cover of 
the quiet lake, the girl jumped into the water, to 
the great disappointment of the boy. 

June was so excited when she came to her 
father’s castle that some of her sisters noticed it. 
They came to her and wanted to find out the 
reason, but June kept the secret to herself. 

She was glad that not one of her sisters knew 
anything about her adventure. It was so 
strange, and she knew that nobody would under¬ 
stand her feelings. 

Of course, the boy returned again the third 


32 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

day, and June came, too. But this time the 
boy did not want to play. They walked side 
by side through the summer meadows and the 
boy said: 

“Dear little girl, why can’t you stay with me 
forever? I know a little hut near here, it is 
empty, we can live there and play all day 
long. I will bring you all you want, flowers, 
birds and insects. I will tell you the most won¬ 
derful stories and I will never leave you.” 

June liked her new playmate very much and 
she loved birds and flowers and insects, but when 
she thought of the sisters she would never see 
again, and of the scorn of her father, she felt 
very sad. She said: 

“Why cannot I stay a nymph? We could 
play together every day as we do now, and I 
would not have to leave my father and my 
sisters.” 

The boy answered: 

“If you will not stay with me always, I will 
return no more to the lake.” 

Now June’s heart became still more sad, for 
she loved the handsome boy, and all the promises 
he made were very tempting. 

The boy begged and begged and promised, 
and at last she decided to stay with him, and so 
it happened that the sun went down without the 
girl’s returning into the water. 


THE WATER-NYMPH 


33 


She went with the boy to the little hut and, in 
her joy over all the new playthings her compan¬ 
ion brought, she had no time to long for her sis¬ 
ters or worry about her father. 

A few days passed in joy and happiness. 
Trees, flowers, birds and insects were an unceas¬ 
ing source of interest and pleasure for the 
nymph-girl, because she never had been so near 
to them before, and the boy knew such lovely 
stories to tell, and never tired of finding new 
amusements for his little playmate. 

But after a short time the boy began to grow 
tired of her. He sometimes went away and left 
the little girl alone in the hut, and now she had 
plenty of time to think of her sisters and her 
father. And as the lonely hours became more 
frequent, and longer and longer, she became 
homesick. 

The boy did not see her pale cheeks and red 
eyes, and she knew nobody in the wide, wide 
world to whom she could have confided her 
sorrow. 

And one day the boy went away and did not 
return at all. Oh, what days of bitter repent¬ 
ance now came for the poor little girl. 

She did no more enjoy the playthings the boy 
had brought her, she felt so lonely and cried so 
much that her poor eyes nearly became blind. 

She longed for her sisters and felt sorry for 


34 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

the worry and pain she had given her dear, kind 
father. 

Every day she went to the lake, she thought 
she would feel better if she could see one of her 
sisters, but the nymphs did not recognize her 
and fled as soon as they heard her footstep. 

Finally, one day, June said to herself: 

“If I can no longer live in the water, I will 
die in it,” and she went and jumped into the lake. 

But, to her great surprise, she did not die. 
Two little sisters came and caught her by the 
arms and carried her to the king’s castle. 

The father looked very angry as she stood, 
shaking with fear, before him: 

“You have been an ungrateful and faithless 
child,” he said, “and have well deserved to die; 
but, as you have been punished severely already, 
I will have mercy on you. Changed into a 
water-lily, you shall bloom near the shore until 
you are picked by a human being. This creature 
will fall into the water and be drowned, but you 
shall be released. However, as a water-lily you 
shall keep your human heart.” 

Instantly the girl was changed into a water- 
lily and was brought to the same place, near the 
shore, where she had met the boy before. 

With her human heart she had to keep all her 
sad memories. The place reminded her unceas¬ 
ingly of the hours spent in love and happiness. 


THE WATER-NYMPH 


35 


and the tears she cried became glittering dew- 
drops and rendered her still more beautiful. 

But instead of pushing herself nearer the 
shore, when footsteps were heard, so that some¬ 
body could pick her, she hid herself, for she 
rather wanted to suffer than that anyone should 
be drowned for her sake. 

One day all her grief and sorrow were re¬ 
newed, for the bad boy came to the lake again, 
and it was an agony for her to see him playing 
on the shore with one of her little sisters, who, 
like herself before, had left the lake to play 
with him. 

June could not help overhearing the conversa¬ 
tion and, with a bleeding heart, she listened to 
the same words the boy once had spoken to her* 

“Stay with me,” the boy said, “I will bring 
you all you want and will never leave you.” 

Undecided, the little nymph stood there, while 
the water-lily suffered agony lest her sister 
should have to endure her own fate. 

In her excitement, she pushed herself nearer 
the shore and let the sunbeams reflect themselves 
in her tears. As soon as the boy noticed the 
flower he said to his companion: 

“Look at this wonderful lily; I will pick it 
for you.” 

As he bent down he fell into the lake and was 
drowned. At this moment the lily was changed 


36 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

into the nymph again and, as quickly as she 
could, she pulled her sister into the water, for 
the sun was just setting. 

The little sister was angry, and said: 

“Why did you take my boy? I wanted to stay 
with him on the shore.” 

“Oh, sister, thank heaven you are saved!” 
cried June, and it was only now that the sister 
recognized her. She listened to June’s story 
while they were hastening to the castle in order 
not to be too late for the assembly. 

The king was veiy glad to have June with 
him again, and he forgave her, and all the sisters 
were happy. But before they went to sing and 
dance, June asked her father if he would grant 
her a favor, as sign of his forgiveness. 

The king promised, and June said: 

“Dear Father, you have given us permission 
to go on shore and become human beings. Not 
only I myself, but also this little sister, has found 
out what a great danger it is. Please withdraw 
your permission, so that no more harm can come 
from it.” 

The king was only too glad to do so, and after 
that June enjoyed the evening pleasures as she 
never had done before. 

The sad adventure was soon forgotten and, 
with all the nymphs and her father, June lived 
happily ever after. 


IV 


THE STORY OF LITTLE STAR 

I T was on a bright summer evening. The 
angels had just begun to light the stars and 
the moon started his travel across the sky. 
Sometimes he stood still and talked to the stars, 
like a father to his children. 



Sometimes the Moon Stood Still and Talked to the Stars. 


To the big stars he said: 

37 





38 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“Take good care of your little sisters, watch 
them so that they do not fail.” 

The little ones he reminded: 

“Be obedient to your big sisters. Don’t wig¬ 
gle too much; you know it is dangerous.” 

Just on this evening when the story begins 
there was a little star who was very naughty. It 
would not stand still. It bent to the right and 
to the left and forward and backward. It was 
so curious, it wanted to see all that was going on 
in the world beneath. The big star beside it said: 

“Oh, little star, why will you not stand still? 
You will fall down on the earth, and then you 
will become a very unhappy little child. You 
know that this is a very severe punishment.” 

But the little star did not listen. It kept on 
wiggling, and the big star became very nervous, 
and said: 

“Oh, please, little star, why can’t you behave 
like the other stars? I know you will bring 
trouble to yourself.” 

But the little star did not pay any attention. 
It had just discovered something on earth it had 
never noticed before, and it bent over to see 
better. 

And as it bent still farther, it slipped. The 
big star reached over to catch it, but was too 
late. Down, down the little star fell, until it 
reached the earth. 


THE STORY OF LITTLE STAR 39 

It fell into the garden of poor working people 
and became a little baby-girl. 

The poor woman to whom the garden be¬ 
longed found it next morning and carried it into 
the house. 

“Look what I found,” she said joyfully to her 
husband. 

But the man said: 

“You must take that baby to the police-station 
at once. We are too poor to bring up a strange 
child.” 

But the woman begged: 

“Oh, please let me keep it. We have no chil¬ 
dren of our own, and it came last night when the 
star fell. There is a saying that this brings 
luck.” 

The man gave his permission, and so the girl 
stayed in the house and was called “Little Star.” 

Little Star grew and became a very good little 
girl. But she was not a bit like other children. 
She would not run around and play; she liked to 
sit in a quiet corner and sing songs that nobody 
had taught her. They were all holy songs, and 
Little Star sang them with such a sweet, clear 
voice that everybody liked to listen. 

If she had not been so shy she would have 
made many friends, for everyone liked her. 

Once on a bright summer day, when Little 
Star was about seven years old, she was sitting 


40 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

near the window singing her sweet songs, when 
a rich lady in a wonderful carriage happened to 
pass the house. She told the driver to stop, and 
she listened for a long while. Then she came out 
of the carriage and entered the little house to find 
out to whom the sweet voice belonged. 

When she saw Little Star she liked her very 
much, and she said to the parents: 

“Dear people, would you not let me have this 
little girl? I will take her to my castle and bring 
her up as my own. I will ask nothing of her but 
to sing very often. To you I will give a large 
sum of money, so that you can buy a larger house 
and more ground and have an easier life.” 

Little Star was called in, and because she saw 
that the father would like her to go, and because 
she wanted her mother to have a more prosper¬ 
ous life, she said good-bye to father and mother 
and went away with the rich lady. 

They arrived at a great castle. Little Star 
received the best of food and care, and beautiful 
dresses, and because she was allowed to stay all 
by herself in the garden or rooms, and could sing 
to her heart’s content, she was quite happy. 

But, when a few weeks had passed, the rich 
lady came one day to Little Star and said: 

“I am going to have company tomorrow, and 
I want you to sing before my guests.” 

Little Star turned pale and said: 


THE STORY OF LITTLE STAR 41 

“Dear lady, I am not able to sing before com¬ 
pany. I can not remember one little song and I 
can not hold a tune.” 

But the lady said: 

“That is nonsense, Little Star; you must sing, 
—you can if you will.” 

With tears in her eyes Little Star pleaded 
again and again, but without success. 

Next day she was given a new white dress and 
a new hair-ribbon, and then she was called into a 
big hall where many people were sitting. 

She stood on a platform, and at a sign from 
the lady she was to begin. 

Little Star tried very hard. She opened her 
mouth, but instead of a song only a few false 
notes were heard, and when she saw the disap¬ 
pointment in the eyes of her audience, she ran 
out into the garden and waited in tears for her 
punishment. 

This was hard enough. The lady was very 
furious when she came out into the garden after 
her guests had left. As soon as she saw Little 
Star, who was hiding in a corner, she said: 

“You ungrateful child, how could you disap¬ 
point me so, after all the kindness I have shown 
to you. Go out of my sight forever.” 

Little Star tried to explain, but it was in vain. 
Without a further word, the lady sent the little 
girl home to her parents, and they were told that 


42 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

on account of her disobedience and ungrateful¬ 
ness she would not keep Little Star, and the 
parents should send back at least a part of the 
sum of money she had given them. 

What a sad reception she had at home. The 
mother cried and the father scolded, and nobody 
would believe that the little girl really had not 
been able to sing before a crowd. 

Only a few weeks Little Star had to stay at 
home. One day there came to her parents an 
old gentleman from the town near by. He had 
heard talk about the child’s beautiful voice, and 
when he listened to her sweet songs he said that 
he would like to take her to the town and teach 
her to become a great singer. 

The father did not want the gentleman to be 
disappointed, and so he told him about Little 
Star’s shyness and her experience in the rich 
lady’s home. 

But the gentleman, who was a great professor 
of singing, said: 

“For many years to come, Little Star will not 
have to face an audience. I will guide her study, 
which will take a long time. By the time the 
little girl is ready to appear in public she will 
have lost her shyness.” 

He also promised that Little Star, as a great 
singer, would earn much money, and the little 
girl went with him. 


THE STORY OF LITTLE STAR 43 

No sooner had the great professor begun to 
teach the child than he found out a very peculiar 
thing. As soon as Little Star tried to sing other 
songs than her own, her voice did not sound as 
sweet and clear any more, try as hard as ever she 
might. The old gentleman really did his best to 
teach her and Little Star studied very hard, but 
without success. Neither knew that the girl had 
brought from heaven the holy songs she sang so 
sweetly, and that her gift never could be used to 
earn earthly wealth. 

And, after some weeks of fruitless effort, the 
old gentleman said one day to the little girl: 

“Little Star, you know yourself that you 
never will become a great singer. I think you 
had better go home to your parents.” 

Little Star thanked the kind-hearted old man 
and bade him good-bye, but she did not return 
home. She knew how disappointed her parents 
would be. Her mother’s tears were even harder 
to bear than her father’s scolding and, worst of 
all, they would not believe in her good will. 

Homeless and friendless, she wandered from 
house to house and sang her songs, and was glad 
when the people offered her something to eat 
and a place to sleep. 

In summer her life was not so hard. There 
were berries and nuts in the wood, the soft moss 
offered her a cool resting-place when her limbs 


44 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

were tired, and she did not mind loneliness, since 
her shyness kept her from making friends with 
other people. 

But when winter came, oh, what a hard life 
it was then for Little Star! 

The wind was cold and raw, the sunshine did 
no more warm her, the ground was frozen and 
covered with snow. The people did not open 
their doors and windows when Little Star sang, 
for it was too cold. Nobody bothered to give her 
something to eat. Little Star had to suffer 
much from hunger and cold, and often at night 
she did not know where to lay her weary little 
head for rest. She became thinner and sadder 
every day. 

On Christmas Eve, when all mankind is 
happy, Little Star was at the end of her 
strength and had no place to go. When her 
poor little feet no longer could carry her, she 
went into a church and sat down in one of the 
empty pews. 

In order to get warm she started to sing her 
little songs in a very feeble voice, and through 
her songs rose her prayer to heaven, a prayer 
for relief. 

And the dear Father in Heaven granted her 
wish, for when the people came to church next 
morning they found the little girl dead. 

Little Star had gone to heaven. But even 


45 


THE STORY OF LITTLE STAR 

there, where everybody is joyful and happy. 
Little Star remained shyly in a corner and did 
not want to enjoy herself with the angels. 

She liked to sit in a quiet corner all by herself 
and sing her songs, just as she had done when 
she was on earth. But this is not the way in 
heaven. 

One day there came a big angel to Little Star 
and said: 

“Dear little child, why do you not play and 
enjoy yourself? Did you leave somebody on 
earth for whom you are longing?” 

“Oh, no,” said Little Star, “but I had been a 
star before I became a child, and I would like to 
be a star again and shine in the sky as I did 
before.” 

For now she knew what had happened to her, 
and she was longing for her sisters and the 
beautiful moon, and she told her story to the 
angel. 

And the angel immediately changed the child 
into a little star, and two angels came and, hold¬ 
ing it on both sides, they carried it just to the 
same place in the sky where it had stood before. 

What a wonderful surprise for all the other 
stars, that the little sister was back again. Little 
Star had to tell her story over and over again, 
and when the moon came along his road, he was 
so happy to see his little lost child. But he 


46 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

could spare his warnings now, for Little Star 
kept as quiet as the big ones. 

And when another little sister was disobedi¬ 
ent, Little Star told her story, and that always 
had effect, for no one would long for such a sad 
experience as our Little Star had to go through. 

And if you, dear children, look up to the eve¬ 
ning sky and you notice a tiny little star, that 
never wiggles (for most of the little stars wiggle 
a little bit), then it is the Little Star whose story 
I have told you. 






Scene from “The Fairy’s Crown” 


stmm 











V 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 

O NCE upon a time, long, long ago, there 
was a place where fairies lived. This was 
the most lovely spot you can imagine. 
It was a meadow in the middle of a big forest, 
surrounded by trees, old as ages, watered by a 
silvery brook and covered with lovely wild 
flowers. 

In the daytime it looked just like any other 
meadow, but at night, when the moon poured its 
silver light over the earth, the magic began. 

At midnight there arose a music as soft as the 
humming of bees and then many fairy-children 
appeared in dresses made of flower-leaves, and 
with veils and golden crowns on their heads. 
And these lovely creatures danced as sweetly as 
only fairy-children can dance. 

When a sound was heard, hush, how quickly 
they all vanished! For they did not like to be 
seen by mankind. 

But one spectator the fairies on the meadow 
had, all the time, without knowing it. This was 
a little deformed dwarf. His name was “Spot,” 
47 


48 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

because his large body and thin legs resembled 
an ink spot. 

Spot lived in a mountain-cavern with hun¬ 
dreds of other dwarfs, and every night he came 
secretly to the fairy-meadow where, hidden in 
the branches of a tree, he watched their dancing. 

And every night he turned quite green with 
envy because of not being able to dance as they 
did, and his heart was set on getting one of their 
magic crowns. He knew that in those crowns 
lay the power to dance so wonderfully, for when¬ 
ever one of the fairy-children took her crown off, 
she ceased to dance. 

To possess such a crown was the dwarf’s 
greatest ambition ever since he came to the 
meadow, but as yet he had not been able to 
get one. 

At last, one night, he was able to obtain his 
wish. One of the fairy-children came quite near 
to the trees upon which Spot was sitting and, 
with a quick grasp, he took the crown and disap¬ 
peared, while the fairy-child looked all over the 
ground, for she thought the crown had fallen 
down. 

Beside himself with joy, Spot arrived in his 
mountain-cavern and he prepared immediately 
to give his comrades a performance of his danc¬ 
ing. Of course he acted very mysteriously. 

“Dear brothers,” he said, “form a circle, light 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 


49 


your lanterns and I will give you a great 
surprise.” 

The other dwarfs obeyed, and when the 
mountain-cavern was lit up with many lanterns. 
Spot put his crown on his head and started 
to dance. 

Oh, what a funny sight! Spot jumped from 
one leg to the other, his arms stretched out, his 
eyes rolling with pleasure, for he thought he 
looked just as sweet as a fairy-child. 

The laughter of his companions he took first 
for appreciation, but when he realized that they 
were making fun of him, he got very angry. 

“You ungrateful people,” he said. “You 
don’t know what real art means, you don’t de¬ 
serve that I show my skill before you.” For he 
still believed that he danced wonderfully. 

He went out, and from then on he danced only 
in the woods where nobody could see him. 

But the woods are not a good place for danc¬ 
ing, and one day the dwarf stumbled and fell 
and sprained his ankle. 

There he lay and could not go home, and God 
knows what would have become of him if Mary 
had not come along just then. Mary was a little 
girl from the nearest village who was looking for 
berries. 

She heard a deep groan, came nearer, and saw 
the little dwarf in great pain. She said: 


50 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“Dear me, little fellow, what is the matter 
with you?” 

“Oh,” said the dwarf, with a new groan, “I 
don’t know, I think my leg is broken. I 
stumbled over one of those silly roots that stick 
out of the ground.” 

Mary bent down and looked at the badly 
swollen ankle. 

“I will do what mother does in such a case,” 
said little Mary, and she ran to a little brook 
near by, wet her handkerchief and bandaged his 
leg as good as she could. 

“Now lean on my arm as hard as you can, and 
try if you can step on your foot,” advised Mary. 

Spot tried but, with a cry, he fell back on the 
ground. 

“I can not walk,” he said, with tears of pain in 
his eyes. 

Little Mary felt so sorry that she also began 
to cry and was wondering what more she could 
do for him. 

“Maybe I can help you to get to your home,” 
she suggested, “if you tell me where you live.” 

“My home is not far,” he answered, “if you 
could carry me over there to the mountain, I 
could call my brothers.” 

As carefully as possible Mary lifted up the 
dwarf and directed her steps to the mountain, 
when the dwarf called out: 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 


51 


“Stop a minute, please. Somewhere here on 
the ground lies a little crown. You can take it 
and keep it for yourself. If you put it on your 
head you can dance like a fairy-child.” And to 
himself he went on: “It is nothing for me, I 
should have left it with the fairy-child.” 

But Mary was afraid to hurt the dwarf in 
bending down, and said: 

“I would rather come back afterwards and 
look for it, thank you very much.” 

She carried Spot to the mountain and set him 
carefully on a stone. 

“Thank you for all that you have done for 
me,” he said, “and whenever you need my help 
you can call on me, my name is ‘Spot.’ ” 

And before the girl could thank him once more 
for the crown, the dwarf had disappeared. 

Mary now had time to look for the crown, and 
she found it right on the place where the dwarf 
had been before. It was a wonderful thing, made 
of pure gold, adorned with pearls and diamonds. 

“It is too precious for me. Nobody will be¬ 
lieve that it was given to me. I had better 
hide it.” 

But because she was all alone in the woods, 
she put the crown on her head and began to 
dance. And Mary was a sweet little creature, it 
looked really beautiful. Mary felt very happy 
and arrived home in great excitement. Instantly 


52 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

she searched for an old white veil that once was 
her grandmother’s, wrapped the crown in it and 
put it thus on her head. 

Then she came out to father and mother and 
brothers and sisters and began to dance. 

How surprised they all were. Nobody had 
ever seen a child dancing so wonderfully, and 
the whole village came running along to see 
Mary dance. 

And in the villages and towns in the neighbor¬ 
hood the people wanted to see Mary dancing, 
and all of a sudden she was a great artist, re¬ 
ceiving gifts and money, and was able to support 
her poor parents. 

At last she came into the capital of the 
kingdom. The news about her great skill and 
grace reached even the king’s palace, and the 
king also wanted to see the child who danced so 
beautifully. 

Everyone can imagine Mary’s happiness when 
she received an invitation to dance before the 
king and the court. And when she arrived at 
the king’s palace and saw all the beauty and 
splendor that spread before her eyes, she became 
quite dizzy. 

Below a chandelier with thousands of candles 
she danced, more sweetly than ever before, until 
all the assembly burst out in endless praise and 
applause. 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 


53 


Of course there were also many people who 
envied Mary, and one of them was the king’s 
daughter, who was sly enough to hide her 
feelings. 

When the performance was ended the princess 
went to her father and said: 

“Dear father, would you allow Mary to be my 
friend and stay with me for a time? I want to 
take dancing-lessons from her.” 

The king gave his permission and Mary went 
with the princess into her bedroom, lay down in 
a silken bed and the princess told her about the 
wonderful life they would now lead. 

When Mary had closed her eyes upon the 
happiest day of her life, the promises of the 
princess followed her in her sleep and made 
her dreams even more beautiful than the reality 
had been. 

But the king’s daughter was a very wicked 
girl. She had found out that behind the danc¬ 
ing lay a magic power, and as soon as Mary 
was alseep she arose and searched among Mary’s 
clothes until she had found the crown. 

She went into the next room, put the crown on 
her head, and saw now that she was able to dance 
as beautifully as Mary, and she danced all night 
and did not even go to bed. 

As soon as morning began to dawn, she called 
Mary out of her dreams. 


54 


STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 


“Mary,” she said, “you have stolen this crown 
somewhere. I will now keep it for myself, and 
you have to leave the castle right away. Don’t 
dare to tell anybody that I have taken your 
crown. Nobody will believe it at any rate. But 
if I, the king’s daughter, should say you have 
stolen something, you will be put into prison.” 

Mary did not understand at first, but when she 
realized the bad intention of the princess, she 
pleaded: 

“Dear princess, you have all you want, and I 
have nothing but this crown, and have to sup¬ 
port my poor parents. Please let me have my 
crown. It was given to me by a dwarf, out in 
the woods.” 

But pleading was useless. The princess her¬ 
self opened the doors for Mary and the poor girl 
ran away so quickly that it really looked as if she 
had done something wrong, so greatly had the 
princess frightened her. 

She ran all day without resting, and when 
evening came she fell down tired to death, in a 
meadow near the woods. 

Now she realized the full extent of her trouble. 
She did not dare to go home, she thought nobody 
would love her any more, and she did not know 
what to do. 

She cried and cried and did not even notice 
when the sun went down and the moon rose. 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 


55 


Suddenly she heard a music as soft as the hum¬ 
ming of the bees. She raised her head and saw a 
wonderful sight. 

Many fairy-children in dresses made of flow¬ 
ers were dancing on the meadow, and what sur¬ 
prised Mary most was that they all had the same 
kind of crowns on their head as she had had. 

Just when she was thinking where the dwarf 
could have gotten the crown, she saw a little 
fairy-child coming along. 

This fairy-child had no crown on her head, and 
her face looked very sad. 

When she saw Mary she started as if to run 
away, but when she saw that Mary’s eyes were 
red from crying, she stood still and asked: 

“Dear little girl, why are you crying?” 

“Oh,” said Mary, “I had a crown just like 
those of the fairies, and I was able to dance so 
wonderfully, and make my living and support 
my parents and everybody loved me. And now 
the king’s daughter has taken my crown away.” 

“But tell me, dear girl,” asked the fairy-child, 
“how did you get the crown?” 

“A dwarf gave it to me. I found him in the 
woods with a sprained ankle. I dressed it and 
carried him to the mountains and therefore he 
gave me the crown.” 

“But don’t you know from whom the dwarf 
got the crown?” asked the fairy-child again. 


56 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“Yes,” said Mary, “I heard the dwarf say, T 
should have left the crown with the fairy-child.’ ” 

“Oh, dear girl,” cried the fairy-child, “then it 
was my crown that he gave to you. The bad 
dwarf took it, and I have been looking for it all 
the time. Oh, how I cried! See, all my sisters 
dance and are happy, and I alone must stand 
aside and can not take part in their joy.” 

And the poor fairy-child had tears in her eyes. 

“Dear fairy-child,” said Mary, “if I had my 
crown still I would give it back to you. I can be 
just as happy without it, now that I have seen 
how you have to suffer from the loss.” 

“Have you any idea how we could get back the 
crown?” asked the fairy-child, and after one mo¬ 
ment of silence Mary cried out: 

“Oh, yes, the dwarf said I could call whenever 
I needed him. Perhaps he can help.” 

Full of hope, the girls ran to the mountain and 
called three times, “ Spot,” “Spot,” “Spot!” 

After they had waited a little while the dwarf 
came, and when he saw the fairy he blushed, for 
he remembered his wicked deed. 

And the fairy-child said: 

“Dwarf, you have taken my crown, but I will 
forgive you if you will help us to get it back.” 

Mary told him about the king’s daughter, and 
both begged him to help them. 

Spot did not hesitate long. He had felt sorry 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 


57 


all the time about his wickedness and was glad 
to be able to pay his debt to the fairy. He 
started to think the matter over and, after a little 
while, he said: 

“I know a magpie, a very clever bird. I will 



After They Had Waited a Little While, the Dwarf Came. 

send her to the castle to get the crown for you. 
You girls go to the meadow, in one hour every¬ 
thing can be done.” 

Mary and the fairy-child now went back to the 
meadow and sat down to wait. The fairy-child 
did not know how to express her happiness over 










58 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

the thought that she soon would again be able to 
join the happy plays and dances of her sisters, 
and Mary did not know if she was dreaming or 
not, when she saw all those beautiful fairy- 
children in their flowery dresses move so grace¬ 
fully in the moonlight. 

The time passed so quickly that they hardly 
knew how the hour had passed. A happy shout 
made them look round, and there came Spot, 
waving the crown in his hand. 

The girls ran to meet him, and the joy of see¬ 
ing the happiness of the fairy-child, when she put 
the crown on her head, was enough reward for 
both the dwarf and Mary. 

But it was not the fairy-child’s intention to let 
Mary go without a sign of her gratefulness. She 
asked her to wait, and disappeared just for one 
minute. When she stood before Mary again, she 
held in her hand a big purse filled with shining 
gold, and gave it to Mary. 

To the dwarf she offered forgiveness and 
friendship, and promised to invite him and his 
brothers to all the parties the fairy-children 
would give in the mild, bright summer nights. 

They all felt so happy now that Mary nearly 
forgot to go home. 

But when the moon was hastening to go down 
behind the trees and when all the fairy-children 
stopped their merry dances, Mary started home, 


THE FAIRY’S CROWN 


59 


after she had given hearty thanks to the fairy- 
child and the dwarf. 

What a joy when Mary arrived home with all 
her money that made her parents wealthy people, 
and she received all the love she could wish for. 

So she lived happily ever after, for you know, 
the more happiness you bring to other people, 
the more comes to yourself. 

But she never heard anything more of the 
fairy-child and the dwarf. 













VI 


THE STORY OF A CRICKET 

I N a barley field near the forest lived, for 
many years, Mrs. Cricket. She was quiet 
and modest, friendly to eveiybody, and 
therefore had many friends. 

But Mrs. Cricket also had enemies without 
her knowing it, and really without its being 
her fault. 

Those enemies were the birds in the forest, 
and the only reason for their hatred was her 
chirping. 

They could not understand why Mrs. Cricket 
chirped all day long and did not stop even when 
the birds began to sing in chorus or when Miss 
Mockingbird sang a solo. 

They were greatly offended that Mrs. Cricket 
had no respect for their art, and all the inhabit¬ 
ants of the “Songvillage,” as they called their 
quarter, had united to find means to get rid of 
their noisy neighbor. Of course they wanted 
to keep their consciences clear in the matter 
and therefore it was not easy to find the 
right way. 

One day there was great excitement in the 
60 


THE STORY OF A CRICKET 61 

Songvillage. Mr. Woodpecker called all the 
villagers to a meeting, to talk over a plan con¬ 
cerning Mrs. Cricket. 

Not only the mister birds, but also their 
ladies and children were present. Mr. Wood¬ 
pecker opened the meeting with the following 
speech: 

“Ladies and Gentlemen! I have called you 
today to talk over a plan concerning our dis¬ 
agreeable neighbor. How would it be if we 
should send a delegation to Mrs. Cricket to ask 
her, in a very polite manner, to find another 
dwelling-place for herself? 

“The delegation could propose the barley field 
on the other side of the forest. They could de¬ 
scribe the place in a very attractive way and 
make her understand that it was for her own 
good. 

“She would find more company there, and 
would not be disturbed all the time by our sing¬ 
ing. Only in a polite way can we get rid of her, 
as we have no right to force her to go.” 

This proposal was accepted with great en¬ 
thusiasm, and Mr. Woodpecker was asked to 
take the delicate matter into his own hands, and 
choose two other birds as his companions. 

Mr. Woodpecker, of course, was very proud 
of the important part he played in the com¬ 
munity, and he choose two bluebirds to go with 


62 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

him. The meeting ended with cheers for Mr. 
Woodpecker. 

Next morning, after Mrs. Cricket had brushed 
her husband’s coat carefully with a branch of a 
fir tree, the delegation left on their important 
mission. 

They found Mrs. Cricket at home and very 
much surprised to receive a visit. She listened 
very attentively to the speech of Mr. Wood¬ 
pecker, and when he had ended she answered in 
the same polite way: 

“I am much honored by your visit and thank¬ 
ful for your attention. But, please tell your 
community that I am not in the least disturbed 
by your singing. It harmonizes very well with 
my chirping. On the other hand, I love solitude 
and would never leave my dear barley field. I 
don’t think I could feel as happy anywhere 
as here.” 

With these words and a polite bow she left the 
Woodpecker and the bluebirds, who returned in 
very bad humor to the Songvillage. 

They saw many long faces when they told 
their experience, and Mr. Woodpecker was not 
regarded with the same respect as before. 

His ambition, however, helped him to find an¬ 
other plan very soon, and another invitation to a 
meeting caused new excitement. 

As soon as all the community was assembled, 


THE STORY OF A CRICKET 63 

Mr. Woodpecker knocked with his beak on a 
tree,—that was the sign for the opening of the 
meeting. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he began, “I am 
pleased to be able to give you today a new idea 
concerning Mrs. Cricket. My plan is this: We 
will arrange a big concert and ask Mrs. Cricket 
to take a number on our program. I am sure 
she will be very much flattered. As soon as she 
begins to chirp, we shall start to laugh at her 
and show our disapproval in every possible way. 
Some of our children could even be allowed to 
whistle and throw huckleberries at her. After 
this disappointment the mortified lady will find 
another dwelling-place very quickly, I am sure.” 

This plan suited the inhabitants of the Song- 
village exceedingly. They cheered and clapped 
with their wings, and it took quite a while until 
Mr. Robin got the floor. 

He said: 

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Twice already Mr. 
Woodpecker has shown us his brilliant spirit and 
his great interest in the welfare of our village. 
I hope you all will agree with me if I propose to 
nominate Mr. Woodpecker as our mayor.” 

Jubilation and cheering without end followed 
this speech. Mr. Woodpecker was announced 
mayor and his vain heart swelled with pride and 
happiness. 


64 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

In his joy he promised to make all the prepa¬ 
rations for the concert himself, which was to take 
place next Sunday. 

The meeting ended with another cheer for the 
new mayor, and on the way home everybody 
talked about the great joy of getting rid of Mrs. 
Cricket very soon. 

Next day the mayor brought the invitation to 
Mrs. Cricket and, to the great joy of all, it was 
accepted. With great enthusiasm the prepara¬ 
tions were started. The mayor himself made a 
platform for the soloists and decorated it with 
leaves and branches. After this he wrote the in¬ 
vitations on birch-leaves, for they have lines, us¬ 
ing his beak as a pen and the juice of blueberries 
for ink. The sparrows had to carry them from 
house to house. 

At last he had the brilliant idea of building a 
triumphal arch. 

But what was Mrs. Cricket doing? 

She was chirping peacefully all day long, and 
did not get the least bit excited about the con¬ 
cert. On Friday she sent a messenger to her 
friends and relatives on the other side of the 
forest. She asked them to come and listen 
to the great concert that was to be given the 
following Sunday by the birds in the Song- 
village, which could be heard splendidly from 
her house. 


THE STORY OF A CRICKET 65 

Very early on Sunday afternoon all the birds 
of the village were assembled in the concert- 
place, and Mayor Woodpecker went off to bring 
the guest to the concert hall. 

But what a surprise when he arrived at Mrs. 
Cricket’s house! 

More than twenty crickets were sitting there, 
talking and drinking tea, and Mrs. Cricket 
played the part of a hostess. 

She did not wait for Mr. Woodpecker to talk, 
but said: 

“Oh, Mayor Woodpecker, I am sorry that I 
had not time to send you a message that I can not 
come to the concert. You understand that it 
would not be fair to leave my guests. But I am 
sure Miss Mockingbird will not mind taking my 
part in the concert, and I and all my friends will 
be so thankful for the pleasure you give us.” 

Now what was Mr. Woodpecker to do? 

Boiling with rage inside, but with a smile 
on his lips, he left Mrs. Cricket’s dwelling, and 
he felt very badly when he arrived in the 
Songvillage. 

All the birds stretched their necks to see the 
unusual pair arrive, and the disappointment that 
followed can be imagined. 

There was no concert at all that afternoon, 
for, as the mortification of Mrs. Cricket was to 
have been the most important thing, they had 


66 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

prepared for nothing else. And besides nobody 
felt like singing. 

From the barley field sounded happy chirping, 
and the birds had only one thought: Revenge. 

It did not take long until rage and hatred gave 
Mayor Woodpecker a new idea. 

This time he did not call together the whole 
community. With just a few confidential 
friends he talked the matter over. It goes with¬ 
out saying that in a few hours the news had 
spread, anyhow. 

They agreed to the following plan: First, they 
wanted to make Mrs. Cricket unconscious with 
strong-smelling herbs, then place her on a leaf 
and two strong birds were to carry her through 
the forest to the other barley field, which they 
had decided was to be her dwelling-place 
long ago. 

“It is no crime,” said the Mayor, “as no harm 
will be done to her. We are only helping her to 
save the moving-expenses.” 

Now they assigned to each the part he was to 
play. The meadow-lark was chosen to find the 
herb, little chickadee was to carry it secretly, on 
the following Saturday evening, to Mrs. Crick¬ 
et’s house, and two strong blackbirds offered 
their service to carry the unconscious lady on a 
leaf to her future dwelling-place. 

All these decisions were made behind closed 


THE STORY OF A CRICKET 67 

doors, so that the secret should not come to Mrs. 
Cricket’s ears. 

Mayor Woodpecker took no active part this 
time; he had had enough from his former 
experiences. 

But Mrs. Cricket had her friends; whether 
they were butterflies or insects or woodspirits, it 
is hard to say. 

How could she otherwise have sent the fol¬ 
lowing message to her aunt who lived on the 
other side of the woods: 

“Dear Aunt, won’t you come to see me this 
week end? There is an opportunity to return in 
a newly invented airship. It won’t cost you a 
penny.” 

Of course, the aunt came, if it was for no other 
reason than the airship. She stayed a few days 
and heard from her niece all the intrigues of 
the birds. 

On Saturday evening our Mrs. Cricket went 
away and did not return at all, while the aunt 
stayed in the house, which was filled with an un¬ 
usually sweet odor. 

Next morning, early, the two blackbirds 
came, placed the aunt on a leaf and flew away 
with her. 

It was a pity that the birds had to keep quiet, 
otherwise they might have dropped the cricket. 
But after they had placed their burden on the 


68 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

ground, they danced with joy that their plan had 
succeeded so well. 

On their way home they pictured to each other 
the awakening of the hated Mrs. Cricket, and 
they were very proud indeed to have done their 
work so well. 

But when they came near the Songvillage they 
stopped all of a sudden, looked at each other and 
grew pale. They heard a chirping. They did 
not want to believe their ears. They were fright¬ 
ened to death and hurried home. 

In the Songvillage they found the greatest 
excitement. 

All the birds had seen how Mrs. Cricket had 
been carried away, and right after that she had 
begun to chirp as loudly as ever, in the field. 
Was that a miracle? Was that a punishment? 
The birds all felt very down-hearted, and it took 
a long while before a blue-bird found courage to 
go down and look. 

He saw Mrs. Cricket sitting cheerfully at her 
door and chirping. 

When the birds heard this they became more 
frightened than before. No song came from 
their beaks that day. They could find no ex¬ 
planation for these happenings, try as hard as 
they pleased. 

Meanwhile the aunt woke up in the other 
barley field. The first thing she did was to visit 


THE STORY OF A CRICKET 69 

all her friends and to tell them about her mys¬ 
terious return and about all the intrigues of 
the birds. 

The crickets held a council about this matter, 
and decided: 

In order to protect their relative and friend, 
and also because the place was very inviting, 
they all would move over to the other barley field. 

The plan was realized immediately. 

By hundreds the crickets came next day, and 
were welcomed heartily by our Mrs. Cricket, 
who really did not care to live alone any longer. 

It was no wonder that the birds in the forest 
held their ears. Never before had they heard a 
noise that so offended their musical feelings. 

But what could they do? 

After they were nearly sick with rage, they 
decided one by one to leave their beloved Song- 
village and find another dwelling-place. 

They all went with a sad heart, and the last 
one to go was Mayor Woodpecker, leaning heav¬ 
ily on the arm of his wife. It was repentance 
that crushed him, for had they left Mrs. Cricket 
alone from the beginning, they could have lived 
peacefully all their life in their beloved village. 

The crickets soon felt at home in the barley 
field and never regretted the change. 


VII 


SCALLAWAG 

O NCE upon a time there lived in a big 
forest an ugly little dwarf. His name 
was Scallawag. He was small and hump¬ 
backed and had a mean disposition. 

Above all he hated mankind, for all human 
beings seemed to him big and strong and beauti¬ 
ful. His idea was that they knew only happi¬ 
ness, because they had everything that he lacked, 
and that made him so bitter and jealous that he 
tried to harm them whenever he could. 

The poor little fellow never was happy unless 
he could do mean tricks, and so much was his 
heart set on harming others that he lay awake 
half the night to think of mischief. 

There was a farm near the little cavern where 
he lived, and often he came at night and rolled 
stones on the fields, and was happy when the 
farmer, in the morning, swore and scolded. 

Whenever a traveler came by, Scallawag 
would hold a branch or a stick before his feet so 
that the tired man stumbled or fell. He knocked 
baskets and pitchers out of children’s hands 
whenever he could get near without their seeing 
70 


SCALLAWAG 


71 


him, for he had a magic cap that rendered him 
invisible. 

Once, on a cold winter day, came a little boy 
into the forest to gather wood. The poor boy 
had only a thin little suit on, his hands were stiff 
and red with the cold, and his face had a very sad 
expression. 

He also seemed to be tired, for he gathered 
very slowly and he often had to rest. 

Scallawag was hiding behind a tree and at 
once thought of a way to harm the little boy. 
And he soon found something. 

No sooner had the little boy bound together 
his wood and fastened it on his back, than Scal¬ 
lawag came out of his hiding-place and cut the 
string with a big knife, so that all the wood fell 
on the ground. 

Poor boy! He had to start all over again to 
gather the wood with his frozen little hands. 

Scallawag had expected the boy to get angry 
and scold and swear, and had looked forward to 
it as to a great pleasure. But nothing of that 
sort happened, and as soon as the boy had his 
wood safe on his back again, he turned towards 
home. 

Mean Scallawag! Again he came near and 
cut the string for a second time. He wanted to 
see the boy angry. 

The boy stood still, quite discouraged, and 


72 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

tears came in his eyes. Then he breathed in his 
hands to get them warm, gathered the wood and 
fastened it on his back once more. 

Scallawag was surprised. There was a 
strange feeling in his heart when he saw the tears 
in the boy’s eyes, and an impulse nearly made 
him come out of his hiding-place and help, but 
this mood left him very quickly, and out of spite 
he cut the string again. 

The boy turned around, and when he saw all 
his wood lying in the snow again, he sat down 
and cried bitterly. And soon he had cried him¬ 
self to sleep. 

To fall asleep in the snow on a cold winter day 
would mean death. The boy would never open 
his eyes again if he were left alone, Scallawag 
knew that. 

As he thought of all this he felt very strange. 
As he came slowly near and saw the boy lying in 
the snow so motionless, the mean expression of 
hatred at last left his face. 

He himself hardly knew what he did, when he 
kneeled down beside the boy and started to rub 
his face and breathe into the little blue hands just 
as the boy had done before. 

But it was all useless, the hands did not get 
warm and the boy did not awake. 

At last Scallawag began to drag the boy by 
the arm until he reached his little cavern. It was 


SCALLAWAG 


73 


hard work, but he succeeded with great effort, 
and was thoroughly exhausted. 

He made a fire and then again he gently 
rubbed the little boy’s hands. 

After a little while the boy opened his eyes, 
looked round and began to cry. 

“Why are you crying?” asked Scallawag. 

“Oh, my poor Mother,” cried the boy; “she is 
waiting for the wood, and can not go home. I 
am so tired and so hungry.” 

Scallawag ran to the cupboard and brought 
bread and butter. He warmed some milk at 
the hearth fire and gave it to the boy. With 
shaking hands the boy took it, and the way the 
food disappeared in the boy’s mouth showed how 
hungry he must have been. 

The warm milk brought the color back into his 
pale cheeks, and when Scallawag saw that his 
strength had come back he could not refrain 
from asking questions, for it was the first time 
that he had spoken to a human being. 

“Please, dear boy,” he asked, “will you tell me 
about your mother and yourself and why you 
are poor?” 

“Oh,” said the boy, “we have always been poor. 
My father died long ago, but as long as Mother 
was able to work we were content, because we 
have our little home and had enough to eat. But 
now Mother is sick and can work no more. We 


74 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

have not been able to pay the rent and have no 
money to call a doctor and buy the medicine 
that would cure her. I do errands for the 
neighbors, but my earnings are not enough to 
buy coal, so I came to the forest to gather wood 
in order that Mother, at least, should have a 
warm room.” 

Scallawag was greatly surprised when he 
heard this story. He always had believed that 
all mankind was happy, never had sorrow and 
trouble, and he went on asking: 

“But the farmer who has his field near here, he 
surely is always happy and never has want and 
need.” 

“Oh, yes,” said the boy, “the farmer has a 
hard life, too. He works so hard in his fields and 
then sometimes there comes a thunderstorm that 
spoils his harvest, and he has nothing left to feed 
his children and animals.” 

“But the rich man, who comes by on horseback 
sometimes, he lives in a castle and wears splendid 
clothes, he must always be happy,” went on 
Scallawag. 

“I know whom you mean,” said the boy. 
“This man really is rich, but he is not happy, 
either. He had a dear wife and a sweet child, 
and they both died. Now the man is all alone, 
and that is often harder to bear than hunger 
and cold.” 


SCALLAWAG 


75 


“So you think that everybody in this world 
has his trouble?” asked Scallawag. 

“Yes,” said the little boy, “everyone has his 
trouble, but God gives us strength to help us 
through, and he sends also better times. But 
now I must go.” 

But when he thought of the wood, that lay 
scattered in the snow, he felt discouraged. Tears 
came into his eyes as he said: 

“Oh, now I have to go out and gather up all 
the wood. I did it three times, and every time 
when I thought I had it safe on my back it fell 
down again. How will I ever get through the 
job and bring the wood home to mother?” 

Scallawag felt a pang in his heart, and quickly 
he said: 

“You stay here by the fire and wait.” 

And out he went and took a little wagon and 
gathered the wood that was lying round, and put 
more to it. Then he filled a basket with food and 
medicine and right on the top he put a big purse 
with money. Then he called the boy and gave 
him the wagon with all its contents. 

The boy could hardly believe his ears when the 
dwarf told him that he could keep the wagon, 
which would make it easy for him to carry wood 
and do errands for others. And Scallawag 
explained how his mother should use the medi¬ 
cine and how he should prepare the food that was 


76 


STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 


in the basket. The money would pay the rent, 
so that they need not worry about a place to 
live in. 

With tears of joy the boy exclaimed: 



“Oh, what a kind-hearted dwarf you are! Oh, 
how happy I am! Thank you, thank you a 
thousand times for your gifts. How Mother will 
enjoy all, and she will become well, and we 
will be happy. The Lord will reward your 
kindness and will make you happy also.” 







SCALLAWAG 


77 


Scallawag was happy for the first time in his 
life. Never before had he experienced a feeling 
of joy as at this moment, when he heard the 
boy’s words and looked into his eyes shining 
with happiness. 

He helped the boy to draw the wagon until 
they reached the border of the forest. There he 
stopped and said: 

“Dear boy, whenever you need my help, come 
and see me.” 

The boy wanted to thank him once more, but 
the dwarf had covered himself with his magic cap 
and could be seen no more. 

When the boy reached home with all the gifts, 
his mother rejoiced with him and she became well 
instantly after she had taken the medicine. 
They both praised the kind-hearted dwarf, and 
the boy never learned what great blessing he had 
brought into Scallawag’s life. 

For from that time Scallawag was changed. 
He was as kind and helpful now as he had been 
mean and jealous before. 

His life, spent so uselessly and wickedly 
before, was now a constant source of joy and 
happiness to himself and others. 

The farmer now had better times, not only 
that he did not find any more stones in his fields, 
but sometimes the work was done over night. 
The good man laughed and whistled with joy, 


78 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

and Scallawag, behind his magic cap, laughed 
too, because he was a grouch no more. 

When a tired wanderer came by, Scallawag 
cheered and encouraged him and showed him the 
shortest way. He helped many people to carry 
baskets and pitchers, and when the face of the 
people brightened, that was the only thanks the 
little dwarf was looking for. 

How happy his life was, now that he had 
learned to share the joy and sorrow of others, 
and instead of lying sleepless at night and plan¬ 
ning mischief, he slept well and soundly, just as 
we all sleep when we have tried to be good dur¬ 
ing the day. 










Scene from “The Magic Forest 













VIII 


THE MAGIC FOREST 

O NCE upon a time there was a little boy 
whose name was Harold. His father and 
mother died when he was six years old, 
and as he had no relative who would bring him 
up, he lived in a poorhouse. 

This poorhouse was a miserable place in a 
small town and, as the meals were very meagre 
and nobody cared for the poor little boy, it was 
no wonder that he did not grow up like other 
children, but stayed very small and thin. 

When he was fourteen years old, he looked as 
if he were only nine or ten, but the caretaker of 
the poorhouse told him that he now had to go 
and earn his own living. 

So Harold left the place where he had spent 
his childhood. It had been a sad life, and sad 
was his parting. There was no one to say a kind 
word to him, to give him encouragement and 
advice. The few people who had shared char¬ 
ity with him were old and cranky and had 
never taken any interest in the timid little boy. 
There was no one to give him a kind wish on 
his way and no loving eye followed him when 
79 


80 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

the door of the poorhouse closed behind his 
feeble steps. 

He had been told to go and find work, and 
Harold really had the best intentions, but he 
soon found out that work was a hard thing to 
obtain for a person as small and frail as he. 

Wherever he asked he was laughed at, and he 
had to be satisfied when kind-hearted people of¬ 
fered him something to eat and when he found a 
place where he could lay his tired head at night. 

This was a very sad life for Harold, to be 
homeless and friendless and to be mocked be¬ 
cause of his small stature, and he often wished 
that he were dead. 

One day, while he was going along the road, 
two travelers were walking ahead of him and 
he could not help overhearing the following 
conversation: 

“I wonder what that black line is over there, 
seems like a forest/’ said one of the wanderers. 

“Oh, dear,” said the other, “have you never 
heard of the Magic Forest? If you take my 
advice you will keep away from it. A magician 
lives there, who changes all bad people into 
trees.” 

“What is your idea in taking me for a bad 
man?” said the first one. “I never killed any¬ 
body, and I don’t see why I should have to fear 
the magician more than you.” 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


81 


“Well,” answered his companion, “you may 
be sure that I will keep away from him. Nobody 
that I know of has such a clear conscience that 
he does not need to fear the magician. But it 
seems that in former times many people came 
that way, for there are thousands of men and 
women changed into trees.” 

When Harold heard those words he thought: 
“What great luck it would be for me to be a tree. 
I would never be hungry and cold, I would 
never be sneered and laughed at. I would be big 
and strong, my head would reach high up in the 
air, the wind would shake me and little birds 
would build their nests in my branches. How 
happy I would be.” 

And he decided to go to the magician and ask 
him to be changed into a tree. 

He went right straight to the big forest. But 
just when he was about to enter, a voice called: 

“Stop, little boy, don’t you know that this is 
the magic forest? Whoever enters will be 
changed into a tree.” 

Harold stood still, in great surprise that 
somebody should take notice of a poor, forlorn 
little creature like himself. And when he looked 
around he saw a little house and an old woman 
standing before it. It was her voice that had 
warned him. 

He came nearer to her and said: 


82 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“Thank you very much, dear woman, but your 
warning is only a promise to me. I have no 
other wish than to be changed into a tree.” 

And he told her about all his misery, and the 
sad life he had lived, and as the old woman 
listened such a kindly expression came into 
her wrinkled face and she said: 

“I now can understand your wish, my poor 
boy. May God be with you, and whenever you 
should need a friend, come to me.” 

And Harold thanked her for her kindness 
and entered the wood. 

He had walked quite a while when he came to 
a little house, and before the house on a stone 
sat the old magician, with a long, white beard, 
and an owl resting on his shoulder. 

Harold stood quite still until the magician 
lifted his eyes from the big book he was reading. 
When the magician noticed the little boy, his 
face darkened with anger, so that Harold trem¬ 
bled with fear. 

“What are you doing in my forest?” asked the 
magician. 

With a quivering voice the boy answered: 

“May my boldness be forgiven, but I have 
heard that you are able to change mankind into 
trees, and I came to ask this favor of you.” 

The magician’s face expressed great surprise 
as he said: 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


83 


“This certainly is a peculiar wish; will you 
give me the reason for it?” 

Then Harold told his story, and when he had 
finished, he asked again to be changed into a tree. 

This time, as he looked into the magician’s 
face, it did not look half so furious, and his voice 
sounded mild when he said: 

“You certainly do not look as if you could be 
of much use in the world as you are now, but I 
will keep you for a while and see if you will not 
grow big and strong with the proper food and 
care. If, after one year, you still want to become 
a tree, I will grant your wish.” 

And Harold stayed with the magician. He 
got plenty of wholesome food and was taught all 
kinds of work that helped to develop his weak 
little body. By and by the boy began to grow 
and he became so strong that, after one year, no¬ 
body would have recognized Harold any more. 

The magician was like a dear father to him, 
and Harold loved him with a thankful heart. 
When, after one year, the magician asked Har¬ 
old if he still wanted to become a tree, he shook 
his head and asked to be allowed to stay with the 
magician all the time. And the magician was 
willing to keep him. 

One day, when the magician was again read¬ 
ing in the big book, Harold came to him and 
asked what was written in this book. 


84 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

And the magician said: 

“In this book I have written the names of all 
the people I have changed into trees. And, if I 
am not disappointed in you, and you can fulfill 
a big task in life, I will release all those people 
for your sake.” 

Harold was very happy to hear this, and 
wanted to go into the world right away to find a 
big task. But the magician said: 

“Not before you are eighteen years old and 
well prepared, will I let you go.” 

Now Harold was more eager to learn than 
ever, and he became unusually bright and clever. 
There was no work that he could not accomplish, 
and, beside all general knowledge, the magician 
taught him many things that no other mortal 
ever knew. He even learned to understand the 
voices of birds and insects, and they obeyed him 
just as well as they did the magician himself. 

Harold grew taller and stronger than any 
other youth of his age, and on his eighteenth 
birthday he started on his long-prepared-for 
journey into the world to find a great task and 
release the trees. 

The best wishes and blessings of his dear 
foster-father accompanied him when he, after a 
hearty good-bye, left the forest. 

The first thing he saw was the little house, and 
he remembered the old woman who had spoken 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


85 


to him so kindly, many years ago. He said to 
himself: 

“I wonder if the old woman is still living. 
She once was so kind to me, I will now look 
for her.” 

So he went and knocked at the door. As the 
old woman opened it, Harold said: 

“Dear woman, do you remember the little boy 
who went into the forest many years ago ?” 

“Yes,” said the old woman, “I remember him 
well. Poor little fellow, I wonder what has be¬ 
come of him.” 

“I am the poor little fellow,” said Harold, and 
he told the old woman all that had happened and 
that he now wished to find a big task out in the 
great world in order to release the trees. 

The old woman was so surprised and pleased 
that she said: 

“I have nothing but a few wise rhymes to give 
you for the way, but if you remember them in 
time they will be very helpful to you.” 

And she gave him the following four verses: 

The first: 

Don’t always look around, 

Look also on the ground. 

The second: 

And be a thing ever so small, 

It can be useful after all. 

The third: 


86 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

If from the outside you will judge as such, 
You will be mistaken very much. 

The fourth: 

If words should be to you unknown, 

Read them right to left or upside down. 

Harold learned these verses by heart, thanked 
the old woman and went on his way. 

He wandered through many countries. How 
different it was now compared to his childhood 
days! Everybody liked the big, strong lad who 
tried to be kind and helpful to everybody. He 
had no difficulty in finding work, but his mind 
was set on a big task, and it was not so easy to 
find it. 

At last he came to a country where everyone 
was sad and distressed, and at his question the 
people told him that their beloved princess 
had fallen into the hands of a bad witch and had 
disappeared. 

Harold at once went to the king and offered 
his help to release the princess. 

But the king did not cheer up at Harold’s pro¬ 
posal. He said: 

“Many a young man has offered me his 
help, but the circumstances are so difficult 
that, until now, nobody has succeeded in releas¬ 
ing my dear daughter, and I doubt if anybody 
can do it.” 

But Harold was not discouraged so easily, and 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


87 


he listened attentively to the story which the 
king told him in the following words: 

“Nobody knows in what way my daughter is 
changed. The only thing I know is that she is 
hidden in the old, big tower that stands in the 
garden. But there are no windows, and the only 
door is locked from the inside. To try to open 
the door by force would mean to kill the princess, 
and until now nobody has been able to enter the 
door, as the only opening is not bigger than 
a pea.” 

Harold went into the garden to take a look a i 
the tower himself, and found everything as the 
king had told him. He went up and down the 
garden path, looking up, in order to find a way 
to open the door. And while he was walking 
along the first verse that was given him by the 
old woman came to his mind. 

“ Don’t always look around, 

Look also on the ground.” 

And he looked on the ground, and the first 
thing he noticed was a tiny little beetle, running 
before his feet. 

First he did not pay any attention to it, but all 
at once he remembered the second verse of the 
old woman. 

“ And be a thing ever so small, 

It may be useful after all.” 

He picked up the beetle, put it on his hand 


88 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

and thought: “I will see if in this country the 
insects also understand my language.” And he 
ordered the beetle to sit still, to go ahead, to come 
back; and the beetle did exactly what it was told. 

Suddenly Harold had an idea. 

He went to the castle and asked for a thin but 
strong thread. One end he fastened round the 
beetle’s body and the other end he kept in his 
hand, and he went to the door of the tower and 
said to the beetle: 

“Go in through this little hole and run around 
the bolt until it is well fastened on the thread.” 

The beetle went into the tiny little hole, and 
when it came out, after a little while, the thread 
was much shorter and Harold knew that the 
beetle had done as it was told. 

Now Harold set the beetle free, and began, at 
first slowly and then a little harder, to pull the 
thread. 

And all at once the lock gave way and the 
door flew open. 

Then Harold entered a big hall, where he 
found nothing but stone figures. Young people 
and old, beautiful ladies and ugly old women, 
boys and men were standing there made of stone, 
and Harold thought: 

“One of them must be the princess.” 

And, as he knew that the princess had been 
young and beautiful, he tried to locate the most 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


89 


beautiful statue of all, believing this must be the 
princess. But it was very hard to find the most 
beautiful, as there were so many of them, and 
while he went, undecided, from one to the other, 
the third verse of the old woman came into 
his mind: 

“ If from the outside you will judge as such, 
You will be mistaken very much.” 

And now he went and found the ugliest one, 
and that was not hard. It was an old woman 
with a big nose and a big pimple on the end of it. 
This statue stood on a pedestal and letters were 
written on it. 

But as hard as Harold tried, he could not un¬ 
derstand the words that were written there. He 
tried and tried for hours, and when the sun went 
down and it became dark, he lost hope ever to be 
able to release the princess. With a very sad 
heart he decided to go to the king and acknowl¬ 
edge his failure. And he had already reached 
the door, when he suddenly remembered the 
fourth verse of the old woman: 

“If words should be to you unknown, 

Read them right to left or upside down.” 

And he turned back to the statue and read 
backward: 

“ Call my name and kiss me twice, 

And you will have a great surprise.” 

And he called “Isabelle,” for that was the 


90 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

name of the princess, and he kissed the stone 
figure twice, and all of a sudden there stood the 
princess before him and blushed and, with tears 
of happiness in her eyes, she said: 

“How shall I ever be able to reward your won¬ 
derful courage for venturing into this awful 
place? Years and years I had to be in this ter¬ 
rible state, with a living heart among all these 
lifeless statues and nobody came to release me. 
Again and again I heard footsteps near the door, 
and with trembling heart I awaited my rescue. 
But all in vain. And now that I had given up 
all hope, your strength and ability have brought 
my freedom. Let us haste to the castle, my 
father will surely reward you.” 

Together they went to the king and, after he 
had greeted his daughter with great joy, he said 
to Harold: 

“Thou hast proved thyself worthy to be my 
son-in-law, and thou shalt help me to rule my 
kingdom. Let us go and prepare to have the 
wedding tomorrow.” 

But Harold, in all his happiness, for he loved 
the princess, remembered his promise toward the 
kind magician, and he said: 

“Much honored I feel by your confidence, 
great and worthy king, and I shall be the hap¬ 
piest man with my beloved bride; but before I 
can think of my own happiness, I must travel to 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


91 


the one to whom I owe all, and fulfill the promise 
I have given.” 

Before he could go on to explain, the angry 
king shouted: 

“If there is anything in the world that thou 
valuest higher than my daughter and my king¬ 
dom, thou dost not need to come back at all.” 

And all love and respect was now changed into 
rage. He would not listen to Harold’s explana¬ 
tion or to his daughter’s pleadings, but chased 
Harold away with his dogs and charged him 
never to come before his eyes again. 

With sad thoughts and a heavy heart, Har¬ 
old started on his way home. He loved the 
princess and suffered greatly, now that he had 
lost her, but not once did the thought come to his 
mind to break his promise to the magician, for 
the sake of his own happiness. 

While he was wandering along the lonely 
road, a monk in a dark garb and a big hood over 
his head overtook him, stopped and said: 

“You are so sad and lonely, it seems that you 
need a cheerful companion.” 

But Harold shook his head and said : 

“I am not fit for a joyful companion, and no¬ 
body can help me.” 

But the monk said: 

“Tell me your story; one never knows, I may 
be able to help you, after all.” 


92 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

So Harold told his story, and when he came to 
tell about his great love for the princess, he heard 
a sob and afterward a peal of laughter, and when 
he turned to his companion he saw the monk’s- 
garb falling arid his surprised eyes beheld Prin¬ 
cess Isabelle. She sank into his arms and, 
between tears and smiles, she told him that she 
had left her father’s castle forever, out of love for 
him who had saved her, and that she would go 
with him wherever he went. 

Put Harold said: 

“Dear Princess, you are used to all the com¬ 
forts of a king’s castle, and the magician has only 
a little hut.” 

And, with a smile that expressed all her love, 
the Princess answered: 

“I shall always be happy with you, wherever 
you go.” 

And so they went together and were very 
happy. After a few days they reached the magic 
forest late in the evening. The magician re¬ 
joiced greatly when he saw Harold and his com¬ 
panion, and when he heard what a great deed 
Harold had done, and how faithful he had been 
to his promise, he said: 

“This evening you both need a rest, but to¬ 
morrow the task will be fulfilled.” 

And next morning when Harold woke up, he 
was surprised to see the sun shining in his room 


THE MAGIC FOREST 


93 


and all the trees gone, and to hear a great noise 
before the house. 

When he came out he saw thousands and 
thousands of men and women standing there, 
and everyone had a gift for Harold. Some of 
them had gold and silver and others had precious 
stones, and all was given to Harold for releasing 
them. 

The magician gave him all the land where the 
forest had been before, and Harold built a big 
castle and married the princess. 

And when they had lived there only a short 
time, there came a messenger from Isabelle’s 
father. The king had repented of his cruelty 
towards the lovers soon after his daughter had 
left the castle, and now he sent a message asking 
them to return, and as a sign of his forgiveness 
he offered Harold his kingdom. 

So Harold became king and the magician his 
highest adviser, and they lived together in happi¬ 
ness ever after. 


IX 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 

\ HE rain was pouring down steadily on the 

roof of the summer-cottage of the L- 

School at the seashore, but the younger 
girls, who were playing on the screened porch 
which surrounded the bedrooms, did not mind 
the weather. 

They were engaged in a wonderful play. 
Dressed up in long dresses belonging to the older 
girls, with trains sweeping after them and old 
veils and shawls thrown over their heads, they 
represented the royalties of Europe. 

Each corner of the porch was a royal castle, 
and the queens of the different countries tried 
to outshine one another with splendor and 
pomp. 

The Queen of France was just preparing to 
visit the Queen of Spain, when Mildred, one of 
the bigger girls, came out and said: 

“You are all wrong, because France is a re¬ 
public and has no queen.” 

For a minute the juniors were confused, but 
Feme, the Queen of France, after a minute, 
burst out: 


94 



THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 95 

“Oh, girls, we are all right; we are living a few 
hundred years ago.” 

The game went on and the girls now gave 
themselves historical names, with the help of 
Mildred. 

Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, now 
visited Isabella, the Queen of Spain, while 
Queen Alexandra of Russia, was occupied in 
fixing the hair of Queen Elizabeth of England, 
in a more queenly way. 

Numerous Ambassadors and Ladies of 
Honor carried messages from one resi¬ 
dence to another, and at last it was ar¬ 
ranged that all the royalties would meet in 
Italy to celebrate the birthday of Queen Ilona, 
of Italy. 

It was on this occasion that Marie Antoinette, 
Queen of France, pushed the rocking-chair, rep¬ 
resenting her throne, which she was obliged to 
carry herself to Italy, against the screen and 
tore a little hole in it. 

This upset all the royalties of Europe. 

“It was your fault, Ruth,” Marie An¬ 
toinette, Queen of France, cried. “You pushed 
me.” 

“No,” answered Ilona, the Queen of Italy, 
“you know that there is not room for two chairs 
in that corner.” 

Isabella, the Queen of Spain, managed to 


96 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

kneel down in spite of her sweeping train, and 
investigating the hole, she consolingly said: 

“Now, you see, I pulled the hole together, it 
is so tiny that no mosquito would find it. I don’t 
think we even need to mention it to Miss Gray.” 

This matter settled, the game went on, and the 
girls were so interested in it that they kept it up 
until evening. They were so used to call each 
other Queen or Highness that they fell asleep 
with those words on their lips and promised each 
other to continue the same game the next day. 

The first word that was heard in the junior’s 
bedroom next morning was: 

“I have a mosquito bite,” called out by fat 
little Vivian. 

“I am all eaten up,” cried red-cheeked Anita. 

“So am I,” echoed little Barbara from her 
corner. 

Just then the teacher, Miss Gray, came in to 
call them, and now all the voices together cried 
out: 

“There are mosquitoes in here, Miss Gray.” 

Only skinny little Sylvia said joyfully: 

“I have no bite.” 

“Well,” said Miss Gray, “that certainly is 
strange. There were no mosquitoes in the house 
yesterday evening, because we hunted all over 
the house. Unless there is a hole in the porch- 
screen, I cannot see how they got in.” 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 97 

Now the little girls looked at each other sig¬ 
nificantly and then Nancy came out with a very 
feeble voice: 

“Miss Gray, there is a tiny little hole in the 
screen. It happened to me while we were play¬ 
ing yesterday, but it is so tiny that we thought 
the mosquitoes would never find it. That is why 
we did not tell you, as you want us to.” 

“It was I that said we did not need to tell 
you,” said Ruth, to finish the confession. 

“Now, children, there is nothing to be done 
but to keep your bites and not to complain 
about them. I will give no punishment for 
making the hole this time, because you con¬ 
fessed, but I trust you to be more careful next 
time, and tell me immediately if anything hap¬ 
pens to the screen.” So said Miss Gray, and 
then she went on: 

“Jump out of your beds as quickly as you can, 
and if you get dressed and do your work very 
swiftly, and not let me find anything to scold 
about, I will meet you at the porch at ten o’clock 
and tell you about the nice party the mosquitoes 
had last night in your bedroom.” 

With an exclamation of joy the girls jumped 
out of their beds and hurried with their 
dressing. 

After breakfast each one went to the work 
assigned for her, and one was always careful 


98 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

to watch the other, that it should be done in the 
right way. 

Never before had they done their work so 
quickly, and at ten o’clock they assembled on the 
porch, where Miss Gray soon joined them. First 
Miss Gray made sure that the girls had done 
their work well, then she made them sit in a half 
circle and while she was carefully mending the 
damaged screen, she began to tell this story: 

Over there, where the shrubbery begins, lives 
a mosquito family. There is Mosquito Dad and 
Mammy and eight children. 

There were nine, and Mrs. Mosquito always 
sighs when she thinks of her sweet little boy, who 
left her one morning, never to return. 

What happened to him? 

Oh, you know, the Mosquitoes have plenty of 
food, if they only would be content with honey- 
dew and berry-juice. But this is like ordinary 
food to them. It is the blood of human beings 
that they are longing for, just as children long 
for ice cream and candy. 

But to fly on people and suck their blood is a 
very dangerous thing to do, and many of them 
get killed that way, especially children. 

The oldest boy of Mrs. Mosquito had run 
away secretly with other boys in order to get a 
taste of the so much praised food, in spite of the 
warning of his parents, and had never come back. 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 99 

That is why Mrs. Mosquito watches the other 
children so carefully, and having had the exam¬ 
ple of their brother, they really were better than 
other mosquito children. 

Of course, they teased their father and mother 
every day and the father had promised, if they 
would be good children, he would take them 
sometimes to a party where they could get ice 
cream and candy, that means human blood,—as 
much as they wanted. 

For weeks Mr. Mosquito had kept an 
eye on our cottage, and watched the happy, 
healthy children that went in and out, always 
thinking: 

“To suck those little bodies while they are 
asleep would be a fine party for my children.” 

But as carefully as he watched the house, he 
could never see an opening in the screen, and 
evenings through the window he had seen how 
the teachers hunted through the house and 
sprayed poison wherever they could see a little 
mosquito hide in a corner. 

Yesterday, in spite of the rain, Mr. Mosquito 
kept around the porch and, by good chance, 
heard the rip in the screen which sounded like 
sweet music to his ears. 

As soon as the dinner bell rang and the 
porch was empty, he investigated the little 
hole and found it big enough to squeeze 


100 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

through, even for Mrs. Mosquito, who was 
rather stout. 

Having made sure that there was no danger, 
he entered the little hole and looked around, first 
on the porch, and then he entered by the window, 
which he had noticed was never closed at night, 
into the children’s bedroom. 

There were twelve little beds, and Mr. Mos¬ 
quito knew by his nightly excursions, when he 
used to peep through the window, that all of 
them were occupied. 

“This hole in the screen certainly is a good 
chance, and as it will not be mended today, I 
shall at last be able to give my children the long- 
promised party,” he said to himself. 

Very joyfully he left the room and the porch 
by the same way he had entered, and went home. 

Mrs. Mosquito just had her hands full with 
quieting the children, for rainy weather made 
them just crazy for a change of food. 

Winkey had started all by complaining: 

“Oh, Mother, when shall we at last have the 
party Daddy promised so long ago?” 

“I am just tired of honey-dew and berry-juice 
all the time,” cried out Blinkey, his sister. 

“All the other children go out to parties with 
their parents and we never go,” bawled Twinkey, 
a thin, long-legged youngster. 

“I shall soon die if I have to wait much longer 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 101 

for a little taste of human blood,” grumbled 
Minkey. 

You see they could not go out on account of 
the rain, and they were just as cranky as other 
children are when they don’t know what to do 
with themselves. 

At last Mr. Mosquito came home with a very 
joyful air about him. He asked Mrs. Mosquito 
if the children had been good. 

This is a very promising question, for it is 
asked always when there is some surprise in 
store for them. 

Consequently the children sat up in their best 
manner and behaved like angels. 

The kind-hearted mother had not the heart to 
tell about them, and so the father said: 

“If you will be very good during the day we 
will go to a party tonight.” 

Now there was a great uproar. “Hurrah!” 
cried the boys, and the girls fell on father’s and 
mother’s neck and just bawled with joy and 
excitement. 

“Where?” “When?” “How?” Those ques¬ 
tions were asked by eight voices at once, and it 
was such a noise that the parents simply had to 
hold their ears. 

At last when the voices that talked at the same 
time had dwindled down to three or four, the 
father began: 


102 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“You all know the L-School-Cottage, over 

there? Well, it happened today that the girls 
tore a tiny little hole in the screen of the porch, 
and they don’t think it worth while to report to 
the teacher, so it will not be mended today. To¬ 
night when all the sweet little girls are asleep, we 
will go and have a lovely time. You can have 
all the human blood you want for once in your 
life. But only if you behave, and not before I 
have given you a lesson in proper manners.” 

The children sat up in their best way and 
listened attentively to the following instructions, 
given by their father: 

“First of all,” he began, “there must be the 
right order from the beginning. 

“We will have to wait until the light is out 
and the children are asleep. 

“We will wait outside the window, and there 
must be perfect quietness, or else the children 
will notice us and all will be spoiled. 

“To enter the little hole in the screen, we will 
have to go single file. I will be first, the children 
will follow according to their age, beginning with 
the oldest. Mother will come last, in order to 
keep watch over all. 

“You are not supposed to push each other. 
There will be enough room and food for all 
of you. 

“It is very bad manners to hum around peo- 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 


103 


pie’s ears and, besides, it is very dangerous. If 
one of the children wakes up and arouses the 
others, our party is gone and our life, too, for the 
teacher would come at once after us with a 
poison-sprayer. 

“For the same reason you must never pick 
out people’s faces. Content yourself with neck, 
arms and legs, if you can get them. 

“Always keep an eye on me and mother, so 
that we can warn you if we should be in 
danger.” 

After all these important instructions he left 
the children with the mother, reminding them to 
be very good for the rest of the day. 

Now the preparations for the party began. 

First of all they got a good washing, one by 
one, and mother was especially particular in re¬ 
gard to their hands and mouths. 

“But why all this washing?” said Winkey, 
who did not like water. “The girls won’t see us, 
anyhow, if they are asleep.” 

“But you don’t want those nice little girls to 
get infections, do you? If you are dirty you will 
carry germs to them, and they would have to 
suffer,” said the mother. 

Now you should have seen how they scrubbed 
themselves, and when they had finished mother 
looked into their tiny little ears and brushed their 
cute little wings. 


104 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

After this they were told to keep very quiet. 
Mother did not want to hear one unkind word, 
and whoever should soil himself would have to 
stay home from the party. 

There never were better mosquito children in 
Jhe world than those eight, yesterday afternoon. 

But every five minutes one would ask: 

“Mother, is it not time yet to start?” until 
mother got impatient and said: 

“The one who asks me once more and can not 
wait quietly will stay home.” 

After that, only whispering was heard, and 
the children went about on tiptoes. 

At last it grew dark. Father, who had gone 
out to see if everything was all right in the 
school-cottage, came back and said everything 
was O. K. 

Then Twinkey came out with a wish that had 
been in his heart the whole afternoon: 

“Father,” he said, “you know my friend 
Smallwing, whose parents were killed not long 
ago. He never went to a party, and I know he 
would be too frightened to go alone. Couldn’t 
I ask him to come with us, since you told us 
there are twelve children and we are only ten 
altogether?” 

One could see that the father was pleased with 
the kindness and thoughtfulness of his boy. 
He said: 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 105 

“Yes, go and get him, but tell him to wash 
himself clean before he comes.” 

Now Blinkey, one of the little girls, said: 

“Can I get my friend Sweetmouth, also?” 

But the father stopped her right away. 

“Nothing doing,” he said. “There is only one 
child left, Sylvia, and she is such a restless child 
and never sleeps real soundly, that I don’t want 
her to be touched. Maybe another time you can 
ask your friend, but not today.” 

Twinkey brought his timid little friend, and 
after he was carefully looked over by Mrs. Mos¬ 
quito, the family was ready to start. 

It was the first time that the children had gone 
so far from home, and they felt very excited. 

There was light in the bedroom and the father 
took all the children to one window, where they 
could peep in by a small crack in the shade. 

The children were just undressing, and as 
they were not allowed to talk in the bedroom, 
there was great quietness. 

“Oh, look at that fat little girl in the second 
bed. I am going to taste her,” whispered 
Minkey, who was the greediest of them all. 

By good chance the father heard this remark, 
and he called Minkey and all the other children 
aside. He said: 

“I hope you all have enough love and respect 
for your mother to see that she must have the 


106 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

best bite. For weeks and weeks she has sacri¬ 
ficed all her pleasure to keep you out of danger. 
It is quite understood that mother will have the 
fat little girl in the second bed. 

“And to prevent a mixup afterwards, I will 
[assign a child to each of you right away.” 

They went back to the window and Father 
Mosquito pointed out a girl for each of his chil¬ 
dren and, for the last time, reminded them to be 
quiet and obedient and never to forget their 
manners. 

The children in the room were now all on their 
knees, offering a prayer to the Heavenly Father. 

After they had finished, the light was put out. 

The mosquito children found the time very 
long until their father at last found it safe 
to enter. 

Very slowly and carefully, so that they could 
escape quickly when an alarm was raised, they 
entered the little hole, one by one. 

The children and the mother had to wait on 
the porch until father had made sure that all the 
children were asleep. He went from one bed to 
the other and listened to the breathing. 

Then he came back and, with one of his feelers 
on his mouth, as a sign of perfect silence, he al¬ 
lowed them to enter the bedroom. 

Slowly each went to his assigned bed and the 
party began. 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 107 

Never did real children enjoy a party more 
than those mosquito children did. Never did ice 
cream to real children taste better than the blood 
they sucked, to those tiny little mosquitoes. 

You must remember, it was the first time in 
their life, and they had waited so long for 
this party. 

They sucked and sucked until they really 
could hold no more, but, keeping their wise 
father’s advice, they behaved so perfectly that 
none of the children woke up. 

At last the mosquito father came to each bed 
to call the children together. 

As slowly as when they had entered, they left 
the porch by the little hole, only it was much 
harder to get through, because their little bellies 
were so big now. 

It was a real hard job for Mr. Mosquito to get 
Mrs. Mosquito through the hole, because, as I 
said before, she was a rather stout person. 

When they got home they were just so tired 
that they did not even care to tell each other 
about the pleasure they had. 

They just fell into their beds and slept. 

But I know, right now, while I am telling you 
this story, they are having a grand time telling 
each other about you. 

They may be looking longingly over here, but 
they would not dare to come near, for right this 


108 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

morning they had to promise father and mother 
that they would not go out alone, but would wait 
patiently until the opportunity for another party 
would present itself. 

“So that is how you entertained the mosquito- 
family last night.” With these words Miss Gray 
rose, for the hole had been mended long ago. 

But the girls held her back: 

“Just one minute longer, Miss Gray, so that 
we may talk over the story,” they said. 

Fat little Ruth looked down on her bitten 
arm and said proudly: 

“It was I who was chosen for the mother.” 

At that all the girls laughed. 

Then Margaret said to skinny Sylvia: 

“You did not entertain anybody last night, we 
all did.” 

But Sylvia only laughed and said: 

“Oh, it’s only a story!” 

Margaret answered proudly: 

“But we have the bites all the same.” 

“I wonder if I entertained the poor orphan- 
boy,” said Grace, “my bites are so very small, 
as if the one that had tasted my blood had been 
timid.” 

And Charlotte said: 

“Oh, Miss Gray, why did you close up the 
hole? I wouldn’t have minded entertaining the 
family again. I don’t mind a drop of blood.” 


109 


THE MOSQUITO-PARTY 

“Now, my dear children,” said Miss Gray, 
“ don’t you get the wrong idea. I told you that 
Mrs. Mosquito was very particular that her chil¬ 
dren should be clean, for she did not want them 
to infect you healthy little girls. There are only 
very few mosquitoes that have such good sense. 
All the others are not so clean, and to be bitten 
by them is very dangerous. 

“Our family is all right, they had their party 
and they will find another chance some time. 

“What I want you to do is to keep the doors 
closed and report to me at once if there is a hole 
in the screen.” 

Miss Gray now left the children, and they 
went outside to play, for it was a wonderful 
morning. 

There was a good thing in that little story: 
the girls didn’t fuss any more about every bite 
they got. 

They spent a long time musing over the 
thought that they had entertained one of the 
little mosquito children. 

As little Vivian put it: 

“We must not be stingy, we like goodies, so 
why should we not allow others to have them, 
too?” 


X 


PRINCESS ROSE 

O NCE upon a time there lived in fairy-land 
a kind and beautiful fairy, whose name 
was Flowerlove. She had a great castle, 
and in her garden grew the most wonderful 
flowers. 

There were daffodils and lilies and tulips and 
crocuses of such shapes and colors that never 
could be found in other countries, and above all 
there were roses that excelled in beauty every 
kind that we can imagine. * 

Fairy Flowerlove sometimes went info the 
land of Mankind. Those visits were a source of 
joy for rich and poor, for wherever she went she 
used her magic power to give favors. She was a 
very welcome guest, even in the palaces of kings. 

Rut in fairy-land there also lived a wicked ma¬ 
gician whose name was Poisonhead. He was 
just as wicked as the fairy was kind. He had a 
big castle and a garden, too, but in it there grew 
nothing but poisonous plants, and whenever he 
went into the land of Mankind he took poison 
with him and his road was marked with evil and 
distress. 

no 


PRINCESS ROSE 


111 


Not far from the magician lived his old 
mother, the bat-witch. She lived in a little hut 
with many bats, who even clung to her dresses 
and in her hair. The bat-witch was too old to go 
into the land of Mankind, but she was very 
mean, too. 

Everybody can understand that the kind and 
good fairy was not loved by her wicked neigh¬ 
bors, and the magician and the witch thought in¬ 
cessantly of ways to anger and harm fairy 
Flowerlove. 

Once the fairy Flowerlove went into the land 
of Mankind and was invited to supper in the 
castle of the king of the Northland. While they 
were sitting at the supper table the king said: 

“Dear Fairy, could you not help me to find a 
Princess to be my wife?” 

The fairy answered: 

“Tell me the qualities you would appreciate 
most in your future wife, so that I may choose 
according to your taste.” 

The king of the Northland did not take much 
time to think about the qualities of the future 
queen, but answered: 

“Above all, she must be very beautiful.” 

The fairy promised to send a bride according 
to his wish on the following day. When she 
arrived home she went right into her garden 
and chose among her flowers the most beau- 


112 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

jtiful, a dark-red rose. She touched the rose with 
her magic wand, and instantly the rose was 
transformed into a beautiful princess. 

A picture of loveliness, Princess Rose stood 
before the fairy, who said: 

“Dear Princess, I have selected you to be the 
bride of my dear friend the king of the North¬ 
land. As the way is rather long, I will change 
one flower of this garden into a servant for you, 
and you yourself can choose which one you like 
best.” 

Princess Rose pointed to a little daisy that 
bloomed right at her feet, and said: 

“This little daisy has been blooming at my feet 
for years, and I would be glad to have it for my 
servant.” 

Instantly the daisy was changed into a strong, 
good-looking maid, who bowed first before the 
fairy and then before the princess, and said: 

“I am so glad I have been chosen to follow the 
princess, for I would have felt so lonely without 
my beautiful protectress, and I will serve her as 
best I can.” 

The two girls went with the fairy to the castle, 
where they stayed over night, and the next morn¬ 
ing they prepared for their journey. 

When they were standing before the fairy to 
bid her good-bye, the fairy said: 

“Your journey is not so easy as you think. It 


PRINCESS ROSE 


113 


leads through the land of my two enemies, the 
magician Poisonhead and the bat-witch. If they 
knew about your journey they would try all they 
could to lead you into danger. But as long as 
you do not leave the broad highway nothing can 
happen to you.” 

These words of the fairy made Daisy rather 
fearful, and when the girls had hardly started 
on their way, Daisy came back to the fairy 
and said: 

“Dear fairy, I am so afraid we will get into 
trouble. Could you not give me a little magic 
stick that would help us when we are in need?” 

The fairy gave Daisy a little branch, saying: 

“If you hold this branch in your right hand 
and call my name, I will hear your wish and 
grant it, wherever you may be. But only once 
the power will help you, therefore be very 
careful.” 

Daisy thanked the kind fairy and promised to 
take good care of the little branch, and with 
great joy they started on their way. 

The world was new to the two girls who, until 
now, had only led flower lives. Everybody can 
imagine how they enjoyed everything that they 
saw, and how they looked forward to the splen¬ 
did life in the king of the Northland’s castle. 

Talking and laughing, they went along the 
road, happy as happy could be. 


114 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

But when the sun got higher and higher and it 
grew hot, the Princess began to complain : 

“Why didn’t the king of the Northland send a 
carriage? It is so hot and I am so tired.” 



As Soon as She Had Said These Words, There Came a Golden 
Carriage Along the Road. 


As soon as she had said these words, there 
came a golden carriage along the road, drawn by 
four white horses, and stopped right before 
the girls. 

A servant in a splendid livery descended 









PRINCESS ROSE 


115 


from his high seat and opened the door with a 
deep bow. 

The Princess wanted to step in right away, but 
Daisy tried to keep her back. 

“Please,” she whispered, “let us walk. It may 
be a snare.” 

But the Princess answered: 

“Can’t you see it is a royal carriage; who 
would send it except the king of the Northland?” 

“The fairy said we must not leave the high¬ 
way,” whispered Daisy again. 

“But we are on the highway now. The fairy 
could not know that this carriage would come to 
meet us, otherwise she would have told us to use 
it,” said the Princess. 

And in she stepped, and Daisy had to follow. 
As soon as the girls were seated, the carriage 
started off at such a speed that the girls were 
unable to see if they were still on the right road 
or not. 

At last it stopped before a big castle and, be¬ 
lieving it was the castle of the king of the North¬ 
land, the girls went in. 

As the door closed behind them, they saw at 
once that they were not at the king of the North¬ 
land’s palace. They were in the castle of the 
magician Poisonhead. For all around the room 
stood poisonous plants in strange shapes and 
glaring colors. 


116 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

The horror they felt after this discovery nearly 
took away their breath, and before they had re¬ 
covered the magician came in. 

He was an ugly old man with a long, white 
beard falling down to his chest. Out of his eyes 
shone meanness as he said: 

“Isn’t it nice of the fairy Flowerlove to send 
me such a beautiful bride? Tomorrow we will 
have our wedding.” 

Both girls sank on their knees and prayed: 

“Please let us go away; we want to go to the 
king of the Northland.” 

“It would be very foolish for me to let such a 
sweet bride go away,” said the magician. “The 
fairy would not send me another one. No, you 
will get your supper and go to bed, and tomor¬ 
row will be our wedding day.” 

Further pleading was useless. Their lamenta¬ 
tion and tears raised no pity in the magician’s 
heart. When he left, the girls stayed alone be¬ 
hind closed doors, and the Princess had plenty of 
time to repent her foolish deed. 

Supper was brought to the girls, but they 
could not eat. They went to bed, but they could 
not sleep. 

The Princess cried the whole night and Daisy 
racked her brain how she might save the Prin¬ 
cess. At last she hit upon a plan. She said to 
the Princess: 


PRINCESS ROSE 


117 


“Dear Princess, cry no more. Wash your 
face that the signs of tears may disappear, and 
try to sleep. Tomorrow morning, when the ma¬ 
gician comes, show him a smiling, happy face and 
ask for permission to go out into the garden and 
gather some flowers. If he lets us go, I will try 
to find a way of escape.” 

The Princess did as she was told, and when 
the magician came in next morning, she smiled 
and said: 

“Dear magician, if we can not change our 
fate, we may as well take it in good grace. If 
I have to be your bride, I would like to adorn 
my dress with flowers out of your garden. May 
I and my maid go out and gather what we 
like best?” 

An expression of scorn and mockery lay in the 
magician’s face when he answered: 

“Oh, yes, you can go. I have no fear that you 
will escape, as a high wall borders the garden and 
all doors are locked.” 

With beating hearts the girls went into the 
garden and Daisy guided the Princess to a place 
near the garden wall, and, holding the magic 
branch in her hand, she said: 

“ Oh, Fairy, by thy magic power, 

Change us to beetle and healing flower.” 

The same instant the Princess was changed 


118 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

into a healing plant and Daisy into a tiny little 
beetle that sat in the red flower. 

It was just in the nick of time, for the magi¬ 
cian came out of the house and walked right up 
the garden path. And when he saw the heal¬ 
ing plant in his garden, he pulled it out and 
threw it, together with the beetle, over the 
garden wall. 

Then he went over to the other side of the 
garden to look for the Princess, but could not 
find her. 

On the other side of the garden wall, flower 
and beetle were changed again into the Princess 
and the servant, and both girls ran as quickly as 
they could until they reached the broad highway, 
where they knew they were safe. 

Here the Princess thanked Daisy for her help, 
and the girls walked on until evening came. As 
they could not reach the land of Mankind before 
nightfall, they prepared to stay over night at the 
roadside. 

But when it grew dark, the Princess com¬ 
plained again: 

“Why haven’t we a roof over our head and a 
bed to sleep in? I am so tired and so afraid.” 

“Please, dear Princess, do not complain,” 
prayed Daisy. “You will bring us into more 
trouble.” 

No sooner had she finished these words than 


PRINCESS ROSE 


119 


there came a trim young farmer’s wife along the 
road and said to the girls: 

“Why, such beautiful girls can not stay at the 
roadside over night. Come into my little house 
with me. It is right behind those trees. I will 
give you a good supper and a nice, clean bed to 
sleep in.” 

The Princess was ready to go right away, but 
Daisy prayed: 

“Oh, Princess, let us stay here; it may be an¬ 
other snare.” 

The Princess said: 

“I can’t see any danger. The woman looks so 
friendly; she means it well.” 

“But you know we should not leave the road,” 
argued Daisy. 

“The house is not two hundred steps off,” 
answered the Princess. “We do not leave the 
road out of sight, and I am longing so for a soft 
bed.” And the Princess went, and Daisy had 
to follow. 

They entered a nice, clean farmhouse, where 
they got a good supper and went to bed, and the 
Princess went to sleep right away. 

But Daisy could find no sleep for a long time. 
When, at last, she did fall asleep she had such 
ugly dreams. And when she awoke she thought 
she must be in a dream still, for she was not in 
the nice, clean farmhouse; she was in the hut of 


120 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

the bat-witch and the bed of the Princess was 
empty. 

Before she had recovered from her surprise the 
door opened and the old witch came in. 

She was so ugly that Daisy shuddered when 
she looked at her. Gray hair was falling in 
strings over her face, and big, yellow teeth stuck 
out of her mouth. All over her dirty dress bats 
spread their black wings, and one was even sit¬ 
ting on her head. 

With an ugly laugh she began: 

“And if my son, Poisonhead, can not have the 
Princess, nobody shall have her. In what way I 
have changed her, nobody shall ever know, and 
she can not be released until she is brought in 
her present form into the presence of the king in 
his most splendid room. You, Daisy, are my 
servant. You have to clean the house, but you 
are not allowed to touch the bats.” 

Oh, what a hard time now began for poor 
Daisy. She heard nothing but scolding and 
screaming the whole day long, for she never 
could please her mistress. 

But harder to bear than her own trouble was 
her sorrow for the Princess, as Daisy did not 
even know into what form she was changed. 

( Many a night she cried, out of loneliness and 
sympathy for her dear mistress, who had disap¬ 
peared so mysteriously, and only the hope of 


PRINCESS ROSE 


121 


finding out about her existence made her life 
endurable. 

At last, one morning, while she was cleaning 
the back yard, she saw the old witch coming out 
of the house and stepping on a big, old stone that 
was lying near the door, with an expression of 
hatred on her face. 

And now Daisy knew the Princess was 
changed into this old, ugly stone! Of course, 
she hid her discovery until she found an oppor¬ 
tunity to make use of it. 

One day the witch said to Daisy: 

“I am going to visit my son, Poisonhead, to¬ 
day, and will not be back before night. You 
must watch the house, and God pity you if I 
don’t find everything in order when I return!” 

As soon as the witch was out of sight, Daisy 
dug the stone out of the ground and went away 
with it. 

As the stone was very heavy, Daisy could only 
walk slowly, and she was so afraid she would not 
reach the border of the land of Mankind before 
the witch returned. 

( But at last, when it was nearly evening, she 
reached the border, right near the castle of the 
king of the Northland. She hid the stone behind 
a bush, went into the castle and asked for a 
position as a servant. And because she was 
a strong, good-looking girl they kept her as a 


122 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

kitchenmaid, and she got a little room to sleep in. 

When it was night, Daisy went out and 
brought the stone into her room. 

Now her whole heart was set on finding out the 
situation of the king’s most splendid room. It 
was not so easy, because her work was in the 
kitchen. And hard work it was, too. But Daisy 
did not mind for the hope of releasing the Prin¬ 
cess made everything pleasant and easy. 

At last, one night, when everybody was asleep, 
she took the stone and carried it carefully up the 
stairs with the intention of placing it in the king’s 
most splendid room. She hoped that when the 
king entered, next morning, her great hope 
would be realized. 

But the stone was so heavy and the stairs were 
dark, and when Daisy nearly had reached the 
top, the stone slipped out of her arm and fell 
down the stairs with a great crash. All the 
servants came running along to see what had 
happened. 

If it had not been for the stone, they would 
have taken Daisy for a thief, for what had she 
to do in the king’s most splendid rooms? But, 
as everybody knew that a thief would not 
carry a big stone, they took her for a fool and 
let her go. 

Daisy was so sad when she had to carry the 
stone back to her room again, and she racked 


PRINCESS ROSE 


123 


her brain day and night to find a new way to 
place the stone in the king’s best room. 

At last she had an idea. 

She went out to gather willow-twigs and made 
a basket out of them, just big enough to place the 
stone in. 

On the top of the stone she put good garden 
soil, and in the soil she planted beautiful red 
flowers. 

In a few weeks she had a beautiful flower 
basket. Just about that time the king cele¬ 
brated his birthday, and Daisy asked for permis¬ 
sion to give the basket as a present to the king. 

Because it was such a wonderful piece she got 
permission. The evening before the great day 
she carried the basket with the stone into the 
king’s most splendid room and hid herself behind 
a curtain. 

The whole night she stood there, her heart 
filled with fear and hope. So far she had suc¬ 
ceeded in her efforts; would her dearest wish be 
realized at last? Would the awful trials of the 
journey at last wind up with a cheerful wedding? 
These were the thoughts that occupied her mind 
as the hours went by. 

At last, next morning, the king came to see all 
his birthday gifts, and when he stepped over the 
threshold there stood Princess Rose in the 
basket. 


124 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

The king was very much surprised, and said: 

“Dear Princess, where have you been? I have 
waited for you so long.” 

But the Princess stood there, blushing with 
happiness, and could not answer, because she did 
not know herself where she had been. 

Now Daisy came out from behind the curtain 
and told everything that had happened, and how 
at last she had succeeded in saving the Princess. 

The King and the Princess were so delighted 
that the Princess said: 

“Dear Daisy, you have been the most faithful 
and unselfish of servants. You shall stay with 
me always, not as my servant, but as my dearest 
friend. 

“As for myself,” the Princess went on, “ I 
have well deserved the trials I had to go through. 
I was a vain, thoughtless girl when I left the 
fairy, but those experiences have changed me. I 
will never forget the lesson I learned, and so the 
hardships of the journey will be a blessing 
after all.” 

The wedding was now prepared in haste. 
Fairy Flowerlove was one of the guests, and en¬ 
joyed greatly the happiness of the young people. 

Daisy stayed with the King and the Queen all 
her life and was greatly honored, and they all 
lived happy ever after. 


XI 


THE CLOUD-PALACE OF THE 
DREAM-ANGEL 

L ITTLE Grace lay in her white bed in the 
beautiful hospital. She had been very ill, 
but now the doctors and nurses felt she 
was on the way to health again. But she was 
very weak and tired and at that they looked 
grave. 

“If she could only get something to rouse her 
and win back her strength,” they said. 

Nobody saw a beautiful spirit who came that 
night from the Dream-palace in the air. She 
laid a bit of many-colored gauze on Grace’s eyes 
and was gone. 

“She is sleeping more restfully,” the night- 
nurse said as she made the rounds. She could 
not see the gift of the Dream-angel on Grace’s 
eyes. 

In the dream, little Grace was lifted high up 
in the air until she came to a beautiful palace in 
the clouds. 

It was the palace of the dream-angels, but why 
it was so called Grace did not know, and the 
angels who welcomed her did not tell. 

125 


126 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

Grace was given a pair of wings and immedi¬ 
ately took her first lesson in flying. She learned 
it very quickly, and then she flew out with other 
angels to see some of the interesting places near 
the cloud-palace. 

There was the big barn, where all the little 
cloud sheep are kept when the shepherd, the 
wind, does not drive them out all over the sky; 
and many other things which I know would in¬ 
terest all children. 

But then the little angels said: 

“We have to go home now, our sisters will 
come soon; but you can go on alone, nothing can 
happen to you.” 

So the angels flew back, and Grace went on 
all alone, and soon she came to a very strange 
place. 

There stood a little golden loom, surrounded 
by a golden fence, and on a table nearby spindles 
with very fine thread, just as fine as spiderweb, 
and in all imaginable colors. 

There was also a little box with black beads, 
and a pair of golden scissors was hanging on 
the railing. 

Little Grace could not imagine what all 
this meant. After she had waited a little 
while there came a big angel whom Grace had 
not seen before. 

The big angel did not notice Grace, but sat 


CLOUD-PALACE OF THE DREAM-ANGEL 127 

down on a golden chair and began to weave. She 
wove a very fine veil-tissue of many colors, and 
sometimes she stopped a little while to think or 
to look into one of the many big books that were 
standing in line on the fence. 

Grace had observed this with great interest, 
and at last she took courage and asked the big 
angel: 

“Dear Angel, please tell me what all this 
means.” 

“With pleasure, little Grace, I am the Dream- 
angel and weave dreams. All that the people on 
earth are going to see tonight in their dreams, I 
am weaving in this veil-tissue. Soon my little 
helpers will come. They cut the little veils, carry 
them down to the earth at night and put them 
on people’s eyes. They will see in their dreams 
all that is woven in the veils.” 

“But, dear Angel, all those books, what are 
they for?” asked Grace. 

“In those books everything is written about all 
people whether they are good or bad, and what 
their hopes and fears are. Good people can see 
their wishes realized in dreams, and bad people 
sometimes receive a warning in a dream.” 

“And the black beads?” Grace wanted to 
know. 

“If I weave black beads into a dream, then it 
will be very sad. But did you see the big palace, 


128 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

where all the Dream-angels live, and did you 
meet our little sisters who keep house?” 

‘'Oh, yes,” said Grace, “I received my wings 
there, but I really did not know why it is called 
the Palace of the Dream-angels.” 

“You see,” went on the Dream-angel, “this is 
our workshop, but when the work is done we go 
into the palace to rest. Here are my helpers 
now; you can watch them.” 

A multitude of little angels now came, and 
each one was called separately to the Dream- 
angel and told to her all that it had seen in its 
nightly flight to the earth. After some of the 
news had been noted in the big books, they began 
to cut the veil-tissue into little pieces just big 
enough to cover the eyes, and then they sorted 
them and arranged them into little piles, for each 
angel had a special place to supply. 

The big Dream-angel wove, another cut, the 
others sorted, and so it did not take long until 
all the work was done. 

One angel after the other left, and at last 
Grace and the big angel were alone again. 

“Dear Angel,” asked Grace, “could I not be¬ 
come one of your helpers?” 

“Yes, my dear, you can, after you have fin¬ 
ished your earthly pilgrimage.” 

“Could I not go tonight and bring dreams to 
my little companions in the hospital?” 


CLOUD-PALACE OF THE DREAM-ANGEL 129 

“Because you endured your sufferings so 
bravely and patiently, we invited you to come 
to the dream-palace for a night, but if you would 
rather carry dreams to your friends, we will let 
you have your wish. Tell me about your little 
friends and I will weave the dreams.” 

“In the hospital, in the bed beside the one that 
is mine, lies little Henry. For two years now he 
has been there. He wishes so much to be well 
and healthy. Dear Angel, if he can not be 
healthy in reality, let him be happy in his dream 
and run and play like healthy children.” 

Immediately the angel began to weave, and 
when Grace looked through the veil she saw the 
little boy running after butterflies, saw him play¬ 
ing with other children, and his face was round 
and rosy and his eyes bright with joy. 

“Oh, how lovely!” cried Grace, and clapped 
her little hands. 

“Now go on, dear child,” reminded the Angel. 

“There is another boy in the same room. His 
name is Robert. On the table beside his bed are 
piles of books, all descriptions of foreign coun¬ 
tries. He is always talking about the travels to 
foreign continents he will make when he gets 
well. It will take long before he can do it, and 
therefore, please let him travel to foreign lands 
in a dream.” 

After a short time, when Grace looked 


130 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

through the veil, she saw the sea with great 
ships, the desert with its pyramids and camels, 
with animals and strange flowers and much more 
that would cheer the heart of an explorer. 

After Grace had expressed her joy, she 
went on: 

“There is also a girl in my sickroom, whose 
name is Feme. She is very ill, and I believe that 
she soon will go to heaven. But Feme does not 
know how beautiful it is there, and so she is 
frightened and does not want to die. If she only 
knew to what a lovely place she will go, and how 
blessed a life she can look forward to, she would 
spend her last days on earth in peace and joy 
instead of fear and sorrow. Could you not show 
her, in a dream, how beautiful a place heaven is?” 

The Dream-angel began to weave, and soon 
Grace held the finished veil in her hand, and 
looked through. 

“Oh, dear Dream-angel!” Grace exclaimed, 
“this is really wonderful. And to think that I 
can take these veils down to my friends myself! 
Thank you, so much.” 

Accompanied by another angel who knew the 
way, she went to the hospital. It was rather a 
queer feeling when she stood in the room where 
she had suffered so much. To her eyes her own 
little bed seemed empty. 

All her little companions slept. Grace went 


CLOUD-PALACE OF THE DREAM-ANGEL 131 

from one little bed to the other and then she put 
the first veil on Henry’s eyes and watched his 
face. She could see how happy he was; he 
laughed out loud in his dream and his thin face 
shone with joy. 

After his veil had disappeared, as it always 
does when the dream is over, she went to Rob¬ 
ert’s bed. 

It was such a joy to Grace to notice the great 
change that the dream brought to Robert’s face. 
She really could see him shooting lions, rowing 
and fighting. Robert had the time of his life in 
his dream; that was plain. 

But little Feme’s dream had the greatest 
effect of all. 

Her face had had a sad and hopeless expres¬ 
sion all the time, but after the dream it became 
calm and peaceful, so that she already looked like 
an angel. 

When all the veils had disappeared, Grace re¬ 
turned to the Dream-palace and told the Dream- 
angel all about her excursion, and enjoyed a few 
hours of recreation with the angels. 

But then it was time for her to return to the 
earth. She thanked the angels for all the pleas¬ 
ure she had had and then—she awoke. 

It was bright morning. Doctors and nurses 
were standing around her bed and found Grace 
much better than the night before. 


132 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

Henry and Robert were laughing, and there 
was such a bright smile on Feme’s face, and her 
eyes looked so happily up through the window to 
the blue of heaven, that Grace was sure the gift 
of the Dream-angel had wrought the change. 

She was still too weak to talk to her compan¬ 
ions, but there was a happy smile on her face. 
She soon became well, but the memory of her 
visit to the cloud-palace of the Dream-angels 
lasted all her life. 


XII 


THE SEA-QUEEN’S REVENGE 

M ANY, many years ago there stood on a 
lonely seashore a little house which be¬ 
longed to the fisherman Hanson and his 
son George. The city was many miles away, and 
only very seldom did the fisherman go there to 
sell his dried fish and buy food and clothes, or 
whatever he needed for his household. 

But even though the fisherman and his son 
lived such a lonesome life, they were very 
happy, for they loved the sea which gave 
them a living and which they regarded as a dear 
friend. 

While the father liked the sea best in her quiet 
mood, the son found it most beautiful when the 
storm piled the water in high waves which broke 
with a great roar on the rocky shore. 

It was on those stormy days that the son, a 
strong lad of fifteen years of age, liked to go out 
in the boat, to try his strength against wind and 
water. 

But the father would say: 

“Do not go; you know that in these stormy 
days the sea-queen goes out hunting and what- 
133 


134 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

ever comes into her way, be it a giant steamer or 
a little boat, she carries it all to the bottom of 
the sea.” 

“Oh, father,” said the son, “she would not 
harm us, she knows that we are her friends.” 

It really seemed as if George was right, for he 
always returned safe and happy from those dan¬ 
gerous excursions. 

One day when George had gone out during a 
great storm, he did not return. Sorrowful hours 
passed for the old father, and when he was sure 
that his son had become a victim of the hunting 
sea-queen, he went out on the shore and called 
into the roaring wave: 

“Sea-queen, thou hast ruined my son. Why 
did’st thou encourage him by thy favor? Now 
I have lost my only help and joy!” 

There came a wave higher than all the others, 
and on the white foam rode the sea-queen with a 
golden crown on her head, on which the water- 
drops glittered like diamonds, and through the 
roaring storm her voice was heard: 

“Too often has thy son’s behavior provoked 
my anger. The punishment had to come. But 
to show thee how I appreciate thy friendship, he 
shall not die. In three different forms he will 
approach thee, and if thou recognizest him, he 
shall be saved.” 

The sea-queen vanished and the fisherman 


THE SEA-QUEEN’S REVENGE 135 

went back to his house, which now seemed to him 
cold and empty. 

His only consolation was the thought that he 
would recognize his son, and he watched care¬ 
fully everything in his surroundings. 

While he lay sleepless on his bed the first night 
after his son’s misfortune, trying to overcome the 
feeling of loneliness, a wave came and knocked 
on the pillar of his house. The fisherman was 
surprised because it was very seldom that the 
water came up so far. 

Next day the fisherman had no other thought 
than to find his son, but he could not see any¬ 
thing that seemed at all like the form his son 
might have assumed. At night when he again 
lay sleepless in his bed, the wave knocked a sec¬ 
ond time on the pillar, and it came again the 
third night. 

Fisherman Hanson had become so used to the 
wave that he was very much surprised when it 
did not come the fourth night. As he lay waiting 
for the familiar knock, hour by hour, the thought 
came to his mind that the wave had been his son. 

He had appeared three times in the form of 
the wave and the father had not recognized him. 

It was a great grief for the old man, but he 
found his consolation in the promise of the sea- 
queen that his son would appear in three differ¬ 
ent forms. 


136 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

More attentive than ever, the fisherman next 
day looked on the ground and in the air, but he 
could see nothing unusual. A big starfish was 
lying on the sand. It would have died had not 
Fisherman Hanson carried it back to the water. 

It was not unusual that he should find a big 
starfish the next day, and again he carried it into 
the water. 

But the third day when he was going along the 
seashore, something seemed to be missing, and 
the fisherman remembered the starfish, and all 
of a sudden it came to his mind that the starfish 
had been his son. 

Oh, what a shock for the old man. He 
would have felt desperate had he not been sure 
that he would have another chance. 

It happened that when he went out fishing on 
one of the following days, he caught an oyster 
containing a beautiful pearl. To find a pearl is 
great luck for a fisherman, for he gets more 
money for it than for a whole wagon of fishes, 
and this pearl, because of its size and unusual 
beauty, meant a fortune. 

Fisherman Hanson enjoyed his find very 
much, but although he was searching all the time 
to find his son, it never occurred to him to suspect 
his son in the form of the pearl. 

He kept the pearl in the drawer of his table 
and every day, when he came home from his 


THE SEA-QUEEN'S REVENGE 137 

work, the first thing for him to do was to open 
the drawer and look at the pearl. 

He really got attached to it, and he would not 
think of parting with it. 

Meanwhile he was always looking for his son, 
and he felt very sad that he had not been able to 
discover him. 

Sometimes he suspected his son in a fish, in a 
stone, even in a cloud, but he never was sure, and 
as this was his last guess, he could not make up 
his mind to take the chance. 

His son had been to him not only his only joy, 
but he had seen in him also a provider for his 
old age. 

The grief made him feel older than he really 
was and he thought that he would have to sell 
the pearl and put the money in the bank, so that 
he would be provided for if something should 
happen to him and he could do his work no more. 

As the time went on and he did not find his 
son, the thought of selling the pearl came to his 
mind more often, and he decided to do so on his 
next trip to the town. 

It was very hard for him to give up the only 
joy he had left, but on the day of his journey he 
put the pearl into his pocket with a heavy sigh. 

When he came to town he sold first all his 
dried fish and then went to a pearl shop. 

By good chance he found there a rich pearl 


138 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

merchant coming from a country far over the sea 
to buy pearls. 

When he saw Fisherman Hanson’s pearl he 
was delighted with its size and unusual beauty 
and offered a price that surpassed even the fish¬ 
erman’s highest expectation. 

Reason told Fisherman Hanson that this was 
the best chance he ever would get, and that the 
only thing to do was to sell the pearl. But his 
heart protested. He was so attached to this 
beautiful pearl, and it was only after a hard 
struggle, when he pictured himself as old and 
unable to work, that he could give up his 
treasure. 

He received a big purse of money for it, but 
the bargain that would have delighted any fisher¬ 
man did not bring joy to his heart. 

He would have gladly given all his riches for 
the assurance that he would see his son again. 

When he arrived home, his house appeared to 
him more lonely than ever. There was a heavy 
burden on his heart when he looked into the 
empty drawer, and all of a sudden, like a flash of 
lightning, the thought came to his mind: 

“The pearl is my son.” 

He cursed his blindness, but then he ran out 
to the sea and called to the waves: 

“Sea-queen, the pearl is my son.” 

Out of the deep there came a voice: 


139 


THE SEA-QUEEN’S REVENGE 

“He is released.” 

Fisherman Hanson now hurried to the town, 
but he was told that the ship on which the mer¬ 
chant sailed to a foreign country was on its way 
far out in the ocean. 

The fisherman returned to his house deter¬ 
mined to wait patiently until his son should 
come home. It was a great relief to him to know 
that his son now was a human being again, and 
he knew George well enough to know that he 
would hurry to his old father as quickly as 
possible. 

Meanwhile the ship on which the merchant 
sailed was out on the high sea, and the pearl, as 
the merchant believed, was in the trunk in his 
cabin. 

Already on the second day of the voyage, a 
sailer noticed a young lad he had not seen before, 
coming out of the cabin which was occupied by 
the pearl-merchant. 

It was thought that he was a stowaway, and as 
the boy was strong and willing to work, they did 
not ask many questions. It was not the first time 
that a sailor had begun his career in this way. 

Everyone will guess that the boy was George, 
released by the power of the sea-queen from his 
existence as a pearl. 

George did not know how he had come on the 
ship, nor how much time had passed since the 


140 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

stormy night, the last event he could recall. His 
heart was set on going home to his father as 
quickly as possible, for he was very sure that his 
father was in sorrow over his loss. 

He had in mind to take a homeward bound 
ship as soon as they reached the foreign harbor 
and work his way back. 

Meanwhile he kept much to himself, and sel¬ 
dom talked to his fellow-workers, but was liked 
for his quiet, gentle ways and the good work 
he did. 

The coast of the foreign country was already 
in sight when the merchant missed his valuable 
pearl. When all searching proved useless he ap¬ 
pealed to the captain, for he thought the pearl 
must have been stolen. 

A great search was undertaken on the ship, 
but without success, and all would have been well 
for George, had not one of the sailors remem¬ 
bered that the first time he had seen George he 
had come from the merchant’s cabin. 

George was called for a hearing, and as soon 
as he had told his name and whose son he was, the 
merchant cried: 

“He is the thief. I bought the pearl from his 
father and he has sent his son to steal it back.” 

Now it was against George that he could give 
no reason for his travel and that he had come on 
the ship unseen. 


THE SEA-QUEEN’S REVENGE 141 

As he could not defend himself properly, he 
was declared guilty, bound, and put into a lonely 
cabin to stay there as a prisoner until the ship 
reached harbor. 

George knew nothing about the pearl; he felt 
himself innocent. His only thought was to go 
home to his father as soon as possible. As he 
now lay prisoner, with a sad outlook of dishonor 
before him and no possibility of defending him¬ 
self, he made a resolution to escape. 

The ship was near the harbor. George being 
stronger than the others had expected, broke his 
chains and in an unguarded moment jumped into 
the sea. Only such an accomplished swimmer as 
he was could venture to carry out this enterprise 
successfully. 

He reached the harbor near the landing sta¬ 
tion in safety. 

It was not hard for him to find work on a ship 
that sailed back to his homeland, and he could 
hardly wait for the time to come when he should 
be united with his old father again. 

But the merchant, when he discovered George’s 
escape, had taken steps to recapture the thief. 
By cable he had sent messages to the town near 
George’s home and had asked them to catch the 
thief as soon as he should set foot on land. 

After a journey which seemed very long for a 
loving son who knew his father to be in distress, 


142 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

the ship reached, at last, the harbor next to 
his home. 

But no sooner had George set foot on land 
than he was caught and put into prison, to wait 
there until his trial for pearl stealing. 

Old Fisherman Hanson had no idea of all 
these happenings, and it was by pure chance that 
he came to town just on the day when his son was 
to be tried. 

He was coming along the road, deep in 
thought about his unhappy son whose return he 
was patiently awaiting, when an acquaintance 
called to him: 

“Fisherman Hanson, have you come to the 
trial of your son?” 

The old man thought he was dreaming, but 
when he heard about the pearl-robbery, he knew 
all that had happened, and he hurried to the 
court-house. 

It was high time, for on account of his vague 
answers, George was again believed guilty. 

A great uproar arose when the old man pushed 
his way into the court-house through all the 
many people that had come to the hearing. 

From the door of the hall his call reached the 
judges: 

“Hear me, please! my son is not guilty.” 

There was a touching scene of greeting be¬ 
tween father and son before the old man started 


THE SEA-QUEEN’S REVENGE 143 

his story. The people did not want to believe it, 
but when the fisherman brought the money he 
had received for the pearl, they all rejoiced with 
him over the happy outcome. 

George was set free, and in great joy father 
and son returned to their home. They were 
happy ever after, and George was now more 
careful and never forgot the lesson the sea-queen 
had taught him. 


XIII 


AUNT ANNA’S FAVORITE STORY 

I T was on a wonderful May morning that a 
young gardener traveled along the road, 
with a song on his lips and joy and happi¬ 
ness shining out of his eyes. 

Should he not be happy? Among a hundred 
others he had been selected to take care of the 
garden of an exceedingly rich lady. 

This garden was said to be the most wonderful 
in the whole country. Everybody talked about 
it, and even kings and queens came to see it. 

There was not a single common flower to 
be found in it. The garden and the hot-houses 
contained only cultivated flowers of unusual 
beauty. 

The gardener was on his way to enter this 
position, and because of his love for nature and 
the wonderful springtime, he had decided to walk 
all the way to his destination. 

While he walked, the gardener’s eyes rested 
with such a loving expression on all the lovely 
wild flowers he passed, for he knew that he would 
not see any of them for a long time. 

When he felt hungry he sat down by a silvery 
144 



Scene from “ Aunt Anna’s Favorite Story ’ 





AUNT ANNA’S FAVORITE STORY 145 

brook by the roadside and ate the lunch he had 
brought with him in his traveling-bag. 

Looking around, he saw, right by his side, a 
bunch of forget-me-nots, the sweet flowers look¬ 
ing at him like loving blue eyes. 

“Oh, you dear Forget-me-not,” exclaimed the 
gardener, “do you know that you are the flower 
I like most in all the world? It is such a pity 
that I cannot take you with me and enjoy your 
loveliness every day. It would be such a com¬ 
fort for me to have you near.” 

“But why can you not take me with you if you 
love me?” asked little Forget-me-not in a timid 
voice. “I would love to come.” 

“Oh, no, my dear little friend,” said the gard¬ 
ener, “the garden where I am going to work be¬ 
longs to a very rich lady, and she does not allow 
common flowers to grow in her garden. I would 
have to hide you in a dark corner where nobody 
could see you, and I would not do that. You are 
used to sunshine and joyful companions. You 
could not have them there.” 

“But really, dear Gardener,” said Forget-me- 
not, “if you would like to have me near you, I 
would not mind being in a dark corner, and 
would not miss my companions. It would make 
me happy to be a joy to you.” 

“No, my little blue-eyed friend,” said the 
gardener, “the big flowers that grow in the gar- 


146 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

den would laugh and sneer at you. I would not 
like to see you unhappy.” 

“Dear Gardener,” said Forget-me-not, “if you 
would like to have me, I would not mind the other 
flowers. I would love to come with you, if you 
really care for such a simple little thing as I am. 
Please take me, if I can bring comfort to you.” 

“You dear little flower,” said the gardener, 
“your unselfishness is quite touching. I will take 
you with me then, and if you get homesick I will 
bring you back to this place if I have to walk all 
night. I will find you a nice hidden place in the 
garden for you and come every day to see you.” 

Very carefully he dug the plant out of the 
ground, without hurting one single root. 

Then he put wet soil around her and wrapped 
her carefully in a cloth that he always carried 
with him for that purpose. 

“Don’t get lonely in that dark place, darling,” 
he said, as he put her in his traveling-bag. “As 
soon as we arrive I will plant you.” 

The young man, now continuing on his jour¬ 
ney, enjoyed the beautiful day with a happy 
heart. 

All at once his eye was arrested by a lovely 
picture. A wild honey-suckle stood there on the 
meadow, a proud plant with many sweet pink 
flowers. 

Sitting down for a rest near the honey-suckle, 


AUNT ANNA’S FAVORITE STORY 


147 


he was amused to notice the haughty way in 
which she treated her many admirers, the bees 
and the butterflies, who swarmed around her. 

They all hummed sweet words of love and ad¬ 
miration in her ears and a little mockingbird 
sang her praise in his sweetest tones. 

“Honey-suckle,” said the gardener, laughing, 
“watching you, one can easily see to what a noble 
family you belong. Why, your most magnifi¬ 
cent relations could not put on haughtier airs 
than you do.” 

“Oh, do I belong to a noble family? Have I 
rich relatives?” asked Honey-suckle, very much 
interested. “Please tell me about them. Where 
do they live? What is their name ? Can I not go 
to see them?” 

“Your noble relatives are many, my dear 
Honey-suckle,” explained the gardener, “but the 
most distinguished of all are the cultivated 
Azalea, the Laurel and the Rhododendron. 
They are too delicate to live in the fresh air; they 
live in hot-houses.” 

“What is a hot-house?” interrupted Honey¬ 
suckle. 

“The hot-house is a house made out of glass. 
The air in it is warm; cold air would kill those 
delicate flowers.” 

“What are they like, my relatives?” inquired 
Honey-suckle. 


148 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

“Azalea has the most wonderful flowers you 
can imagine, unusually large, the petals soft 
like velvet and of exquisite colors. The fra¬ 
grance is simply wonderful. Some specimens 
are so rare that only very rich people can afford 
to have them. They decorate the tables of kings. 
The laurel crowns the heads of great heroes, and 
rhododendron does not stand behind the other 
two in beauty and distinction.” 

Honey-suckle stretched her head still higher up 
in the air and looked triumphantly around, to see 
what impression this news made on her admirers. 

The mockingbird had stopped singing in order 
to listen, and the bees and the butterflies did the 
same thing. It was evident that they all were 
greatly impressed by the story of the gardener. 

“Dear Gardener,” asked Honey-suckle, “do 
you know where I can find those relatives of 
mine?” 

“Oh, there will be many of them in the beauti¬ 
ful garden which I am going to take care of,” 
said the young man. 

“Dear Gardener, please take me with you,” 
asked Honey-suckle, to the great consternation 
of her friends. 

“Oh, no, Honey-suckle,” said the gardener. 
“Get this idea out of your head. You could not 
live in a hot-house and, besides, you don’t want 
to leave all your admirers behind.” 


AUNT ANNA’S FAVORITE STORY 149 

“Oh, I don’t care for these old bees and butter¬ 
flies,” Honey-suckle said, “they only bore me. 
But I would like to make the acquaintance of my 
noble relatives. Please, dear Gardener, take me 
with you.” 

“No,” said the gardener, “I know you could 
not stand the hot air. You would ask me to bring 
you back and I would not have the time to do it. 
You are all right here in the beautiful sunshine in 
the cool air; you could not live in a hot-house.” 

Now, if Honey-suckle had been a reasonable 
flower, she would have given up the idea. But 
she was not. Those noble relatives had turned 
her head altogether. Besides, in her inner mind 
she thought: 

“Who knows, maybe in the hot-house I will 
grow more beautiful myself, if we are from the 
same family; why should I not become as beau¬ 
tiful as my cousin Azalea?” 

So she begged and prayed the gardener to 
take her. 

She promised: 

“I will never ask you to take me back, even if 
I am not happy. I should love to meet my 
cousins.” 

At last the gardener said: 

“Well, if you insist I will take you, but don’t 
blame me if you are not happy.” 

The bees and the butterflies begged her to stay 


150 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

with them, they felt really sorry to lose their 
sweet companion, but she would not listen. 

The gardener very carefully loosened all her 
little roots from the ground. Honey-suckle was 
all excited with happiness and expectation. 
Hardly did she say “good-bye” to all her friends. 

The mockingbird told her before she was put 
in the wet cloth beside the little Forget-me-not: 

“I will come and see you in a few days, little 
Honey-suckle; keep an eye on the window of 
your glass-palace.” 

When Honey-suckle was put into the cloth, 
she was a little indignant to find another flower 
there already. 

Little Forget-me-not very obligingly made 
room for her and greeted her with a friendly 
smile. 

When they were placed in the traveling-bag, 
Honey-suckle measured Forget-me-not with a 
haughty look and said: 

“Why, little one, where are you going to? 
You are not going to visit noble relatives living 
in a glass-palace, as I am?” 

“No,” said Forget-me-not, “the gardener is 
going to plant me in a hidden corner of his beau¬ 
tiful garden because he likes to look at me, and 
I am very happy about the thought,—to be 
loved. He promised to come and see me every 
day, and that is all I want.” 


AUNT ANNA'S FAVORITE STORY 151 

“Poor thing,” said Honey-suckle. “What an 
awful future, to live in a hidden corner, just for 
the sake of a friendly look. You would have 
been better off if you had stayed where you 
were.” 

“What are you going to do in the beautiful 
garden?” asked Forget-me-not timidly. 

“Oh, I am going to live with my distinguished 
cousins. You know I belong to a very noble 
family, who live in a glass-palace, and I am go¬ 
ing to live with them.” 

And Honey-suckle went on bragging about 
her dignified relatives while little Forget-me- 
not listened quietly. 

At last they arrived at their destination. 

The first thing the gardener did was to take 
the two flowers out of his bag. 

To the great indignation of Honey-suckle, he 
took Forget-me-not first and planted her in a 
corner near a high wall, behind a very beautiful 
blooming bush. 

“I feel sorry for you, my little friend,” he said, 
“but you know I must hide you from the eyes 
of my mistress. The soil is good, and I hope 
you will not mind if you don’t get so much 
sunshine.” 

“Oh, dear Gardener,” said Forget-me-not, “I 
think it is lovely here. I like this quiet, shadowy 
place very much.” 


152 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

After he left Forget-me-not, the gardener 
took Honey-suckle, planted her in a pot and, 
opening one of the doors of a big hot-house, he 
put her on a shelf and said: 

“Now, Honey-suckle, here you are right in the 
midst of your noble relatives.” 

For a moment Honey-suckle’s breath was 
taken away by the hot, stuffy air that was in 
the room. 

When she looked around her breath was taken 
away a second time by surprise. 

She felt like a dwarf in the society of giants. 
Could those plants really be her relatives? 
Why, as tall as she was, she reached only half 
way up the stem of the other plants. 

Looking up, she could see the beautiful flower 
heads in exquisite colors. 

All her pride and self-possession had left her. 
She did not dare to open her mouth. 

But the others did. 

“What is this miserable creature doing in 
here?” These were the first words that reached 
Honey-suckle’s ears. They were spoken by a 
beautiful Azalea. 

Honey-suckle summoned all the courage she 
had and said: 

“I am your cousin; I came from the country 
to see you.” 

“Cousin, ha, ha, ha!” A cruel laugh sounded 


AUNT ANNA'S FAVORITE STORY 153 

in Honey-suckle’s ears. All the flowers joined 
in it. 

“Cousin,” sneered the Laurel; “I never knew 
of this branch of our family. I don’t think we 
can be related to such a poor creature as you are. 
You must be mistaken.” 

“No,” said Honey-suckle with quivering lips. 
“I belong to your family; the gardener told me 
so, and I thought I would come to live with you.” 

“Live with us, what an idea!” cried all the 
flowers. 

“We will never recognize you as our rela¬ 
tion. You had better go home right away,” 
said Laurel. 

“Did anyone of you ever hear about 
country-people belonging to our family?” asked 
Rhododendron. 

“Oh, yes,” said Azalea, “there are some beg¬ 
gars living in the country who claim to be dis¬ 
tantly related to us. I heard it once in a lecture 
in the flower show, where I represented our fam¬ 
ily. It was disgraceful, the things I heard about 
them. I was shocked at the things I heard! 
Think of it, they are called ‘naked flowers.’ ” 

“Oh, please,” interrupted Honey-suckle, “this 
is not true. We have dresses just like you have.” 

“Yes, but in the early spring you don’t wait 
until the leaves come out. You open your buds 
before you are dressed in green leaves, and there- 


154 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

fore you are called naked,” Azalea concluded her 
speech. 

Now Honey-suckle bent her head in shame. It 
was true, she had done that herself. She had not 
wanted to wait, and had opened her buds to the 
sun before the leaves had time to come out. But 
she never thought that for this reason they were 
talked about in a contemptuous manner. 

She decided to say no more, and the other 
flowers ignored her. There was one little hope 
left in Honey-suckle’s heart; that maybe the 
hot air would make her grow to the size and 
beauty of her cousins. Then they would have to 
acknowledge her. 

She had a very queer feeling already. Maybe 
it was the beginning of the change. 

The night came. Oh, what a long night it was 
for honey-suckle. She could not sleep. The 
warm air made it so hard for her to breathe. 

She remembered the cool, fresh nights out in 
the meadow and the wonderful sleep she had 
enjoyed there, and how refreshed she had opened 
her eyes in the morning. 

When, after endless hours, morning came she 
felt very weak. 

As soon as Azalea opened her eyes she began 
to sneer at Honey-suckle: 

“Look at this wonderful cousin of ours; does 
she not look lovely today?” 


AUNT ANNA’S FAVORITE STORY 155 

Honey-suckle herself could see now that she 
had faded considerably during the night. Her 
last hope was gone. She knew now that the only 
change coming to her would be death. 

Out of her sad thoughts she was aroused at 
last by a breeze of fresh air, coming from an 
open door. 

The gardener entered to attend to the flowers. 
He watered them all and when he came to 
Honey-suckle he noticed her condition. 

“Poor Honey-suckle,” he said, “I feel sorry 
for you. Maybe it were better if I took you out 
of here. I could not carry you back to the 
meadow, but I could set you in the back yard.” 

Summoning all her pride for the last time, 
Honey-suckle said: 

“No, thank you, I am all right here.” 

The gardener left and the other flowers did 
not pay any more attention to her. It seemed 
that they had forgotten Honey-suckle’s presence, 
and Honey-suckle was glad of that. 

The big flowers talked to each other about 
their own affairs. Azalea was designated to be¬ 
come a present to the queen on her next birthday, 
which was to be celebrated soon. Laurel was to 
crown the greatest poet of the nation in the near 
future, and Rhododendron was to be present at a 
big flower show. 

Poor Honey-suckle listened with a breaking 


156 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

heart. Her strength was leaving her. She knew 
that she would have to die very soon. 

The happiness of her former life stood before 
her eyes when she said: 

“Oh, why was I not content with the life I had! 
Why did I insist on coming here in spite of all 
the warnings I had? Oh, if I only could see once 
more the meadow and say ‘Good-bye’ to all my 
friends. I was a vain, senseless creature, and 
now I am punished for it.” 

A night of agony followed and the morning 
after, when the gardener came in, he saw that 
Honey-suckle was dying. 

In order to give her some relief, he placed her 
on a small window that was high in the wall and 
opened it a bit. 

The air refreshed Honey-suckle, but she knew 
that it could not save her life. 

All of a sudden she was awakened out of her 
dull state by a familiar tune. Looking up, she 
saw her friend the mockingbird coming along. 

Tears of joy came into her eyes. 

“The dear friend, he has kept his promise to 
come to see me,” Honey-suckle said. 

Meanwhile the mockingbird had come nearer 
and recognized Honey-suckle. There was a 
great compassion in his eyes when he saw in what 
condition Honey-suckle was. He said: 

“Oh, dear friend, you have been the joy of 


AUNT ANNA’S FAVORITE STORY 157 

my eyes so long. Tell me what I can do for 
you.” 

Honey-suckle answered in a weak voice: 

“If it is possible for you to get me out of this 
flower-pot, I would ask you to carry me home to 
my meadow to die there. I shall not be a heavy 
burden to carry. I am only a shadow of what I 
was before.” 

Without losing a moment’s time the mocking¬ 
bird, with his beak, loosened the soil in the pot 
and carefully took his friend and carried her 
through the air to the meadow. 

What a fright to all the flowers and bees and 
butterflies when the mockingbird placed his bur¬ 
den on the ground. They did not want to believe 
their eyes when they saw their beautiful friend 
lying there dying. 

Buttercup, her nearest neighbor, bent over 
her, saying: 

“Oh, tell us, Honey-suckle, what has happened 
to you?” 

Honey-suckle, with her last strength, said: 

“Dear friends, I am rightly punished for my 
behavior. I was proud and vain, not content 
with the wonderful life I had. I wanted to be¬ 
come greater, and the dear Lord has punished 
me. My relatives despised me. The warm air 
in the hot-house killed me. I have no right to 
complain; I was warned. I am thankful that 


158 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

God has granted my last wish, to die in this 
beautiful place, where I had spent such a 
happy life. 

“Let my experience be a warning to you all. 
Thank the Lord every day for the wonderful 
life you can enjoy in this lovely spot, and never 
leave it. Good-bye, my friends, thank you for 
all your love.” 

With these words Honey-suckle died. 

Everything in the meadow was hushed. Tears 
were in the eyes of all the other flowers, and bees 
and butterflies forgot the honey. 

At last Mockingbird began to sing a sweet 
song, a farewell to his dearest friend. 

For days the flowers mourned for their 
sister, and bees and butterflies talked much 
about her, and her last warning was never 
forgotten. 

Meanwhile little Forget-me-not bloomed hap¬ 
pily in her dark corner near the wall. She had 
no sunshine, the big bush took all the view from 
her, but she was happy after all, because she 
knew she was blooming for somebody. 

The gardener came every day to see her and 
told her how glad he was to have her near, and 
that he loved her more than all the beautiful 
flowers in the garden. This was enough recom¬ 
pense for all her deprivations, even for the sneer- 


AUNT ANNA'S FAVORITE STORY 159 

ing remarks she had to hear from the high bush 
that hid her from the eyes of others. 

And Forget-me-not did all she could to de¬ 
serve the love of the gardener. Her sweet, blue 
eyes had even a deeper blue than they had had 
out in the meadow, and the leaves had a darker 
green. In all her beauty she always stayed mod¬ 
est, and that was her greatest charm. 

One day the rich lady, with many noble 
friends, came to visit the garden. She showed 
them all the beautiful flowers she was so proud 
of, and they were greatly admired. 

Now it happened that the bush near the little 
Forget-me-not was one of the most interesting 
plants in the garden, and the lady took all her 
friends to it, and the gardener was with them to 
explain. 

In order to see better, the lady stepped around 
the bush, and what did she see but the little 
Forget-me-not? 

Her face grew dark with rage, and the gard¬ 
ener became pale. 

“What does this mean?” the lady shouted, 
“did I not tell you all the time that no common 
flowers should be allowed to grow in this 
garden?” 

And before the gardener could prevent her, 
she set her foot on the plant and stamped it to 
the ground. 


160 STORY HOUR WITH AUNT ANNA 

Suddenly she stepped back, for out of the 
ground shot up a beautiful girl, with lovely blue 
eyes and golden hair. 

The lady and all her guests were speechless. 

The young girl stretched out her hand to the 
gardener and said: 

“Thanks to you and the beautiful lady, I am 
released. I was once a very proud and selfish 
girl, long ago. Many a brave young man came 
to court me, but I only sneered and thought my¬ 
self too good for any of them. 

“Then there came a young man, who was the 
godchild of a fairy. I played an unfair game 
with him, aroused his passion first and then sent 
him away with a sneer. He died of a broken 
heart, but I was transformed by the fairy into a 
forget-me-not. 

“She told me that in this humble disguise I 
should have to live until somebody would come 
to love me, and until a footstep should crush me 
to the ground. 

“The gardener has loved me, and the lady, in 
her hatred, has stamped me to the ground, and 
so I am released.” 

Never was there witnessed a greater surprise 
than on that morning in the beautiful garden. 

The lady forgave the gardener, and the gard¬ 
ener married Forget-me-not and they lived 
happily ever after. 










































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